Wooing Abby Maitland
by Cehsja
Summary: Connor sets out to win Abby over. No more awkward flirting though, this time Connor's going to enlist Sarah's help and do things right. After all, this isn't some little crush, Connor's in love. AU
1. Four People That Connor Loved

**Yes, some of you have read this story before. I posted it a year and a half ago (Can't believe it's been that long!) but I've noticed some mistakes and FanFiction allows me to put in page breaks now which is nice, so I'm editing and re-uploading it. Hope you all still enjoy it the second time around. (Or the first for those who hadn't read it before.) **

There were four people that Connor Temple loved more than anyone else in the world, and one of them was a flying lizard named Rex.

The second person was Professor Nick Cutter. He'd been Connor's hero, but he hadn't been one of those heroes that used Connor's adoration for his personal benefit and ignored him the rest of the time. No, Nick had taken Connor under wing, shown him the tricks of the trade and become one of Connor's dearest friends. It hadn't been that long ago that Nick had been murdered by his own wife and Connor missed him dearly.

The third person was the cute blonde girl he lived with, Abigail Maitland (Abby for short). Connor considered Abby his best friend in the entire world. The lived together, worked together, and rarely ever fought. Okay, that wasn't quite true, they fought all the time, but it was mostly just playful bantering and a few empty threats from Abby when Connor did things like leaving his shoes in the refrigerator. (In his defence, it'd been a hot day and they were planning a lot of walking. He thought the chilling his shoes first would help, but Abby hadn't seen it that way when she'd found them.) Connor loved Abby more than anyone else on the entire planet, in fact, he was _in_ love with her, but Abby had repeatedly warded off or avoided any moves that he had tried to make on her and Connor had eventually stopped making them. Abby just wanted to be friends and Connor wanted to remain living in her flat.

The fourth person was the ARC's newest recruit, Sarah Page. They'd met at a museum and Connor had found himself attracted to her spunky personality. She was a brainiac like himself, always wanting to learn something new, but her studies revolved more around codes and languages and ancient legends, whereas Connor preferred computers and other gadgets. Still, their work seemed to overlap quite often and they found themselves working side-by-side in the lab for hours each day. They both respected each other's vast knowledge and often consulted the other when they had a question. Sarah had comforted Connor on multiple occasions after Nick's death, and she was the only one he'd trusted to help him with the last piece of work that Nick had assigned him to: decoding an artefact. The pair had quickly become good friends, almost like playful siblings, of which Sarah most decidedly took on the role of the elder.

It was Sarah that was at his side just now. Connor was fiddling with his laptop and Sarah was polishing the artefact. Suddenly, she looked up, "Are you ever going to ask Abby out?"

Connor shrugged, "No, probably not. She just wants to be friends." It was their first time discussing it, but Connor didn't mind sharing his secret with Sarah.

"That's not what she told me."

Connor froze for a moment and then turned towards Sarah. "Wait, what? What did she say to you?" He felt excited butterflies flutter about his stomach and did his best to repress them until he got the full story out of his newest friend.

"Connor, I've seen you two together, Abby is totally into you. I asked her what she'd do if you asked her out and she told me she'd probably accept, that's all."

"Really? That's news to me. I have asked her out before, she always said no."

"Odd. When was that?"

"Couple years ago," Connor admitted.

"Things change, Con. Why don't you try again?"

"I don't know," he hesitated. "What if she didn't mean that? I don't want to make things awkward between us you know; it's not like I can just not see her again if she refuses. We live together, for Pete's sake."

Sarah looked up at him, startled; they'd had a lot of chats together, but somehow that had never come up before.

"You- you _what_?" she sputtered.

Connor laughed, "I moved in with Abby over two and half years ago."

"Wow. I mean, I knew you two were close, but I didn't know _that_. And nothing's ever happened between you two in all that time? I mean, you both obviously fancy each other and in the close proximity…"

"She kissed my cheek once," Connor admitted. "Twice if you count the time I blackmailed her into it."

Sarah burst out laughing, "Wooo! Go Connor! You sure you aren't moving a little quickly there?"

Connor grabbed the rag from her hand and flicked it across the top of her head playfully, but he also made up his mind to figure out how Abby really felt, asap.


	2. How to Make Abby Angry

Working in the lab side-by-side with Sarah, Connor had let the girl's enthusiastic conviction wash over him and he'd convinced himself that Abby really did like him as Sarah had announced. He'd been determined to ask Abby out and had told Sarah he'd text her the details after he'd done so. He'd been quite confident that Sarah knew what she was talking about.

The feeling diminished, however, when he was at home with Abby and his dark-haired friend wasn't around to encourage him. It was more than slightly hard to believe that the pretty blonde, who was currently blocking the view of his video game as she yelled at him for leaving his hat in the oven and starting a small fire, (which Connor thought was completely unreasonable, seeing as Abby was the one to turn the oven on and anyway, there'd been no real damage), had any feelings for him. He apologized profusely as his mind wandered, trying to remember if she'd ever shown him any sign of wanting more from their relationship.

There was the time that she had kissed his cheek, but that was because he had saved her life so it probably didn't mean anything. Only, he hadn't really saved her life, had he? She'd never been in any danger; it'd just been a little prank. Still, he was sure that Abby had been thanking him for the attempt and that it hadn't really meant anything.

There was also the fact that she had stopped telling him to quit ogling at her. She used to make comments to him like, 'Stop staring,' or 'Quit drooling,' and now she never told him to stop anymore, but he sort of liked to think he'd just gotten a bit more discreet about it and that she hadn't noticed. He imagined he was like some super spy character from one of his comic books.

Of course, Sarah had said that Abby had mentioned she would go out with him but, as much as he loved Sarah, Connor knew that she had a lot of tricks up her sleeves. Abby often told Connor that he was too gullible. It was because he was so honest, she'd said, that it didn't even occur to him that others might not be telling the truth. Connor liked to think that Sarah wouldn't lie to him, but when it came to Abby, it was easier to believe that Sarah might be stretching the truth a bit in order to get them together than it was to believe that Abby had actually said that, especially now that Sarah wasn't there enthusiastically cheering him on.

* * *

><p>Abby put Connor on dish duty for the next three weeks because of the hat incident (she could do that because it was her flat) and went back to finish cooking dinner. It actually really was Abby's turn to cook, but she often did it on Connor's days too because she'd probably starve waiting for him to remember. Truth was, Abby could never really be mad at Connor. Sure she reprimanded him all the time, but the way her heart started to flutter when she saw the puppy dog eyes he always gave her made it impossible not to forgive him. Anyway, he always simply apologized and accepted whatever chore she made him do with grace, even if he didn't always remember to perform the chore afterward.<p>

Abby had stopped denying to herself that she was in love with her best friend ages ago, but she couldn't do anything about it now. The problem was that she had pushed him away too many times in the past. She wished she hadn't been so stupid at the time, but he just hadn't been the kind of guy she'd normally fallen for and she hadn't let herself realise just how much he really meant to her, not until Caroline had come into the picture. Abby should have known that Connor would eventually move on from her, but until he'd unexpectedly brought home a new girlfriend, she'd somehow just assumed that she'd always have him at her beck and call if she'd ever changed her mind. She'd been extremely jealous of Caroline and fortunately that relationship hadn't lasted long at all. It secretly thrilled Abby that Connor had been the one to dump Caroline and not the other way around, especially since he'd done it before it became clear that she'd been using him for money. Still, Connor had never gone back to his old ways of flirting with Abby after that and Abby sadly realised that she must have pushed Connor away one too many times and he just wasn't interested in her like that anymore.

* * *

><p>Connor knew that Sarah was waiting for a text message from him saying he had done it, that he had asked Abby out, but somehow Connor couldn't seem to get up the nerve, not just yet. It'd be better to wait until she was in a better mood, he thought, and then he'd figure out if she actually did like him back before he officially asked her to be his girlfriend. Suddenly, he sat up with a grin on his face. Abby may have turned him down before, but back then he hadn't been very good at the whole flirting thing. This time he was going to go about it properly and he would officially woo his Abby a little bit each day and win her over gradually. That way he could also gauge her reaction little by little and see if he was overstepping any boundaries.<p>

He sent Sarah a quick text message saying "A's mad. Left me hat in the oven. 2nites not a good time. Do NOT say anything to A. Have a plan but need ur help."


	3. Sarah's List

Connor grinned as his mobile vibrated in his hand almost instantly with Sarah's response: '_Happy to help. What's the plan?'_

Connor decided that it was too personal to discuss over text messaging and he didn't want Abby to hear the call, so he quickly typed back to her, _'Can I come over after dinner?'_

Sarah sent him a reply with a smiley face and her address, which Connor took to mean that it was okay.

* * *

><p>Abby stood watching Connor for a bit in the doorway. She'd come to tell him that supper was on the table and found him busy texting someone instead of playing his video game. When he finished reading whatever it was that was on his screen, she cleared her throat. "Meal's ready."<p>

Connor stood up immediately and put his phone in his pocket, "Something's come up; I gotta go out right after we eat Abs. Do the dishes for me?"

"I don't _think_ so! It's your first day on duty! Don't tell me you've forgotten that quickly?"

"I know, but I have to go out and I don't want it to be too late. Tell you what, I'll do them three extra days at the end of the three weeks!"

"Make it five."

"Deal!" Connor grinned, and they both knew it would never really happen.

They sat down to some pasta that Abby had made and after a few bites Abby finally asked, "Where are you going?"

"Sarah's. I just texted her and she said I could come."

Abby felt a bit surprised at this. She knew Connor and Sarah were quite close, but they'd never hung out in the evenings before, only a couple of afternoon coffee dates that Abby had been present for too. She couldn't help feeling a bit upset that she didn't seem to be being invited. After all, she was close to Sarah too. "Any particular reason?" she asked.

"Just gotta discuss something with her, that's all: secret stuff."

"And you can't tell me?" Abby was a little hurt at the prospect.

Connor just grinned at her, "Nope."

He ate quickly and left, leaving Abby on her own to tend to the dishes.

Abby knew that there was nothing going on between Sarah and Connor, Sarah was always encouraging Abby to tell Connor how she felt about him. Still, she couldn't help but to feel a wee bit jealous that they were sharing their secrets while she sat at home. After all, Connor and Abby were best friends, weren't they? Shouldn't he be sharing his secrets with _her? _She cleared the kitchen quickly and then went to bed, not in the mood to do anything else.

* * *

><p>Connor pulled up at Sarah's and she opened the door before he even got out of the car.<p>

"Were you _watching_ for me?" he asked incredulously..

Sarah shrugged, "Maybe. I'm bored and anxious to hear this plan of yours."

She led him into her kitchen and put the kettle on for some tea before motioning for him to sit across from her at the table, which Connor noticed was an antique. In fact, it looked like half her house was furnished with antiques.

"Connor?" Sarah questioned.

"Right, see, I know that _you_ say Abby will go out with me, but Sarah, I need to be sure of that myself. What I've got with Abby, it's too good to ruin on the chance that you might be mistaken, you know."

"I'm not."

"Still, I have to know. I've decided I shouldn't just jump into things. I've gotta feel her out a bit first so to speak. I'll see how she reacts one step at a time."

"So, you're playing the coward and delaying asking her out until she gives you an indication that she's ready?"

"No, not at all. It's half for Abby's sake that I don't want to mess up what we have you know. I just don't want to be all, _'Abs, you're hot, date me!_' you know? She deserves better than that. I want to properly woo her."

Sarah burst out laughing, "No one actually uses that word anymore, Connor."

"_I_ do! Sarah, if you're wrong and Abby doesn't love me like that, then I hope to win her over by the end of the week so that she _does_ and then I'll ask her to be my girlfriend. If I win her over first, she'll have to say yes, yeah? But I've gotta do it without making it so obvious that I can't go back if she starts to get all, _'Go away, Connor,'_ again."

"A week, eh?" Sarah grinned, "So what we need is a seven day program where you do something different each day to win Abby's heart, even though I still say you've already got that."

"Yes!" Connor said happily, "That'd be perfect, Sarah. I knew I asked the right person."

Sarah grinned and poured the tea before grabbing a pen and notebook. She flipped the book open to the first page and wrote across the top:_ 7 Steps to Wooing Abby._

"Perfect!" Connor told her, "Now, what are the steps?"

* * *

><p>They spent the next few hours discussing it and it was nearly two in the morning before Connor quietly snuck back into Abby's flat, the list tucked safely in his pocket so he wouldn't forget anything. Being with Sarah had boosted his confidence again, and he was sure this was going to work. Finally, he'd have Abby for his own once and for all. He'd start first thing in the morning.<p> 


	4. Compliments

First thing in the morning, Connor pulled the piece of paper out and read it: Day One: Compliments.

Sarah had helped Connor out with that one the night before, but he didn't think he was actually going to use any of the suggestions she'd jotted down for him. She'd made a point of telling him that some of his were definitely _not _acceptable, but the ones she'd chosen just weren't quite good enough for Connor either. Sure Abby would think they were sweet, but Connor wanted to tell Abby what_ he_ thought of her, not what _Sarah told him_ he should think about her. He remembered a long time ago Abby had tried teaching him to flirt and she'd told him to make the compliments personal, and that's what Connor intended to do. Anyway, after the practice with Sarah last night he felt much more confident about what types of things to say, even if he didn't use her exact examples.

He threw the blankets off the bed and skipped downstairs to where Abby was already at the table eating some cereal and drinking some coffee.

"You were gone late," she accused. "I woke up a few times and you weren't back yet."

Connor grinned at her, "Yeah, well, Sarah and I had a lot to talk about." He poured himself some cereal and coffee too and sat across from her. He wanted to compliment her, but he wasn't quite sure how to start it. It'd be better if Abby asked him for a compliment, right? Then he could get away with saying whatever he wanted and she couldn't scold him since she'd asked.

"Hey, Abs," he said, "Remember the day we were at the bar and I was flirting with you?"

Abby paused, looking puzzled, and stared at him, "No, Con, can't say I do. Either you've dreamt it, or I must have been really drunk."

"Aw, come on, surely you remember. Rex was the bartender."

"Rex? Well that solves that, you dreamt it, or _you_ were at a bar and_ you_ were drunk. Either way, didn't happen. Really, Con, you have to learn the difference between reality and… well, not reality."

"It did happen though, Abby. I mean, it might not have been a real bar, per se, it was right here. You were teaching me to flirt."

The memory was triggered and Abby looked a bit relieved that Connor hadn't gone completely lost his marbles. "Yes, _that _I do remember."

"We got interrupted, something came up at the zoo, remember? I think I need some more lessons, can you teach me to flirt, Abby, please?"

Abby felt as though she'd suddenly been punched as she started to piece some stuff together; Connor must've met a girl in a bar and now he needed help. It was probably what he'd been discussing with Sarah last night. She imagined that her reaction to Caroline was probably the reason he hadn't mentioned anything to her just yet. The last thing she wanted to do was to help Connor out. On the other hand, the chance to flirt with him was appealing. Besides, she couldn't think of a way out of it.

"Fine," she mumbled. Then she moved closer to him and did her best to look sexy, "Flirt then."

"What do I say?"

"Compliment me."

Perfect, but Connor wanted to replay this just like last time, "You're hot."

Abby sighed, "Personal, Connor, it's gotta be more personal than that."

Connor stood up and walked away. He had to be careful; he wanted this to be good but he suddenly needed a second to get up the courage.

Abby watched him, "What are you doing?"

"I'm thinking of a personal compliment. If I was in a bar, I wouldn't approach until I knew what I was gonna to say, yeah?"

"Fine," Abby turned back to the table and pretended not to notice him. Connor took a deep breath and then approached her, moving his chair quite close.

"Abby," he stated, somewhat nervously, but determined to get this out, "I personally think that you are the most beautiful woman I've ever seen, and that includes on TV. I love the way your eyes sparkle and you use them to show emotion. I love how you let me live with you and I love how you look after Rex, Sid and Nancy and care about all the animals. I love how easy you are to talk to and how you believe in my work. You're me best friend in the whole world, Abs, and I have no idea what I'd do without you."

Abby's heart melted right then and there as she stared at Connor in complete disbelief. "Connor, I…" but she had no idea what to say. Somehow, a simple thanks didn't quite seem to cover it. She hesitated and then looked him in the eyes, "Connor, you're my best pal too, but if you say anything so personal to a girl in the bar she'll think you've been stalking her," she teased a bit, mostly to prevent herself from making a complete idiot of herself.

Connor laughed and shrugged, "Ah, got it. Thanks for the tip." Then he flashed her a grin and took his cereal bowl to the couch and started up his video game. Day One: Success.


	5. Abby's Outfit

Abby beamed at herself in the mirror as she got dressed for work. She usually didn't put much thought into her outfits when her job was to run around chasing dinosaurs, but Connor didn't usually call her beautiful either: not hot, _beautiful_. She wasn't about to ruin that impression less than an hour later. He'd specifically said he loved her eyes and she'd put on a bright blue halter top that had the tiniest bit of shimmer to it that she thought made her eyes stand out just a bit more. She'd also been careful to use eye make up that would really draw attention to them.

She'd also donned a black skirt with a tapered hem that started mid-thigh and finished at her knee and a pair of light blue leggings just in case she had to go running in the field. Of course, she'd still wear her black boots, for practical reasons, but they didn't look bad she thought, as she chose the pair that was newest and not yet scuffed up. She hoped Connor would notice her effort, though she also hoped he didn't realise it was for him. After all, it'd be really humiliating if he found out about her feelings now that there was probably some other girl waiting for him in a bar somewhere. Abby just had to make sure Connor changed his mind and noticed her before anything actually happened.

She spun around one more time by the mirror to make sure the outfit was perfect, and then headed downstairs. Connor was still sitting on the couch playing his games and in his pyjamas. "Hurry, Connor! We have to be at work in twenty minutes, go get dressed."

"Aw, Come on, Abs," Connor whined without even glancing at her, "I just want to beat the boss. What are they gonna do if we're late, fire us? Anyway, did you notice I'm fighting a dinosaur here, they should pay me for this; it's proper training it is."

He was right of course, about being fired that is, she wasn't convinced that his game counted as training, but she really wanted to see if he would react to her outfit and she felt frustrated that he wasn't even turning around.

She moved over to stand in front of the TV. Instead of straining to see around her like he usually did, Connor let the controller fall from his hand as he gaped at her, "Wow, Abby, you look… amazing, fantastic, gorgeous." Suddenly he narrowed his eyes at her suspiciously, "Why? _Why_ are you dressed like that? Is something going on that I don't know about?"

Abby couldn't wipe the grin from her face. Connor seemed to have forgotten about his game altogether. "Nah," she smiled, "I just felt like dressing up a bit today is all. Girls don't need a reason to want to look nice."

"Well, you definitely do." Connor replied, wondering if he was going too overboard with the compliments today. He had really just been planning on the earlier one, but she was making it too easy for him. He stared at the beautiful girl in front of him, the game still forgotten, for a moment and then excused himself to head up to his room to get changed. He did a double (and triple) take on his way out the door and Abby just stood there smiling at him without even the slightest hint of a sarcastic comment about him staring at her. Vaguely he wondered how he was going to concentrate on work at all today and hoped there wouldn't be any anomalies.

* * *

><p>An hour later Sarah marched into the room where Connor was staring at the artefact. It looked like he was trying to figure it out, but really he was just thinking about Abby.<p>

"Connor!" Sarah greeted him, "What's up with Abby's outfit?"

"Dunno, but it's pretty hard to think about work when she dresses like that. Said she just felt like looking nice today."

"Did you use any of my compliments on her this morning?"

"Nope, made up my own," Connor admitted.

Sarah immediately looked worried, "Oh no, Connor, what'd you say?"

Connor fished a piece of paper out of his pocket where he'd written it down as soon as Abby had gone to get dressed.

Sarah read it to herself and then looked back at Connor. "You actually told her all this stuff?"

"Yep," Connor grinned, feeling mighty proud of himself. "Made it up on the spot and wrote it down for you after so I'd remember. Somehow I knew you'd be asking."

"Was this before or after she got all dolled up?"

"Before, she was still in her pyjamas then, why?"

Sarah grinned and excitedly grabbed onto Connor's shoulders, "Don't you see, Con? She's dressed up like that for you!"


	6. Connor Cleans

Sarah's words stuck in Connor's head for the rest of the evening. Had Abby really dressed up just for him? After all, she didn't do it too often, certainly not for work, and she had run up and got dressed like that _right_ after he'd called her beautiful. But still, it could be coincidence. Nonetheless, he was unable to wipe the smile from his face all day as he'd watched her.

At dinner, which Abby had cooked even though it'd been his turn, he'd decided it couldn't hurt to see if he could get away with one more compliment and he'd told her she was a good cook. It was true to, though he usually figured that helping himself to seconds was compliment enough without mentioning it. Abby's face had lit up and she'd thanked him. This was definitely going well so far, Connor decided. He went to bed that night with a silly grin on his face.

* * *

><p>Day Two of <em>Seven Steps to Wooing Abby<em> had taken Connor and Sarah quite a long time to come up with. The problem was that Abby wasn't going to be around at all that day. Her brother Jack was coming for a visit and Abby said that he was thinking of renting a place in the city. As it was the weekend and they had the day off, she'd decided to take him out house hunting and then to dinner. She said she was leaving early and getting back really late and not to wait up.

Finally they'd decided that Connor should do something big for Abby while she was gone, something he'd never really done before: Connor was going to clean. He woke up early to see Abby off and went straight to his video games so that she wouldn't clue in, but after he'd said goodbye to her, he jumped up and shut off the TV. He dressed quickly and then got to work. He didn't just tidy the place up; he washed the windows, cleaned out the refrigerator, and scrubbed down the walls. He borrowed a ladder from the neighbour's and pulled down all the light fixtures and polished them and put them back up. It was far past lunch time before his stomach reminded him that he hadn't even eaten and then he took a quick break. When he had satisfied his stomach, Connor scrubbed down the bathrooms and mopped the floors and dusted everywhere. He even made Abby's bed as well as his own and did both their laundry. Throughout the day, Sarah texted him frequently to make sure he was still working and not playing games.

He let Rex, Sid, and Nancy wander around as he did all this and then he scrubbed out their cages thoroughly. "Abby'll be right pleased about this one," he said to Rex affectionately, "Don't you think?"

Rex nodded his head as though he understood every word of it and followed Connor around as Connor cleaned, mopped, vacuumed, and scrubbed everything he could possibly see. Then he cooked a few casseroles and placed them in the freezer so that he'd have it easy the next time it was his turn to cook and Abby wouldn't have to do it for him. When there was truly nothing left to do, he went through the cupboards and fridge and made up a grocery list for the week, determined to get the grocery shopping done too. Besides, he still had something else he had to buy, something for tomorrow's plan.

He fired off a quick text to Sarah, telling her he was going to come and pick her up. "I need help again," he typed, "I want your opinion on groceries and gifts."

Sarah replied that sure, she'd loved to help, and together they headed to the store. She showed Connor how to shop for groceries properly, picking out the best quality foods and checking for expiry dates. As they wandered the aisles, she asked him, "Did you compliment her today?"

Connor looked at Sarah, puzzled, "No, that was yesterday."

Sarah laughed and rolled her eyes, "Connor, let me tell you a little secret about women."

Connor's ears pricked up and he listened attentively. Whatever Sarah said, he was sure it would be extremely useful.

"If you tell us something nice about ourselves, we'll be flattered. But if you don't say it again, we start to wonder if you actually meant it. See, the thing is, we're used to guys lying to us and the doubt creeps back naturally. Whatever you do on the list, you have to keep doing. Compliment her often, and maybe start to clean up after yourself on occasion when she doesn't ask. She'll really appreciate it."

"You think?"

"I promise it."

Connor grinned, "Thanks, Sarah."

"No problem."

They headed through the checkout with the groceries, and a little special something that Sarah had helped Connor pick out for Day Three, and then returned to Abby's flat. Sarah had insisted on helping him put the groceries away before he drove her back home. Connor knew exactly what she was thinking; she wanted to double check he'd done a proper job on the housework.

He grinned at her surprised expression when she entered the flat. "Wow, Connor, you really did outdo yourself."

Connor nodded and they set to work with the groceries. Suddenly as Sarah was reaching up to put some dried pasta noodles in the top shelf of a cupboard, she let out a small shriek and then turned to look at Connor, who was already staring at her in puzzlement.

"Sorry," Sarah apologized, "It startled me; what _is_ that thing?" Connor glanced at where Sarah was looking and then grinned.

"Sarah, meet Sid. He's one of Abby and Me's pets. He's a diictodon."

"Pets plural?"

"Abby and Me, we like the little creatures you know. Sometimes we keep them if they are small and harmless enough."

"So these are dinosaurs?"

"Of course. They got trapped her, but you can't tell anyone about them. Only a few people know."

"He _is_ pretty cute," Sarah admitted, "Where are the other ones?"

"Nancy! Rex!" Connor called out and immediately Rex flew down from the rafters and landed on the counter beside them, looking at Sarah as though he was trying to size up whether he liked her or not. He let out a little chirrup of acceptance and Sarah reached out to pet his head.

"This one's Rex," Connor informed her, "and the other diictodon is Nancy."

Nancy hadn't shown up, so Connor called her once more and this time the second Diictodon came running out from under the sofa and greeted Sarah with a friendly, "Hi!"

Sarah looked at Connor, "Did she just talk?"

"They just know the one word," Connor laughed, "Not much for conversation other than that though."

"And they all get along?"

"Oh yes, these three are the best buddies _ever._"

Sarah grinned and helped Connor finish with the groceries before he drove her home. Once she was gone, Connor realised that he was exhausted. He may chase dinosaurs for a living, but he wasn't used to house cleaning and he had worn himself right out. He helped himself to a few leftovers from the night before and headed upstairs. He hid the special something he had bought for Abby under his bed and set the alarm for very, _very_ early the next morning before immediately drifting off to sleep.


	7. Little Notes

Abby panicked when she arrived home late that night and turned on the light. The first thing she noticed was that all Connor's stuff was gone from its usual places (the floor, the table, the refrigerator, etc.) The mess that was normally scattered all over the house was most decidedly missing. Her first thought was that he had moved out on her, probably gone to live with some bimbo from the bar that she had just taught him how to flirt with.

She raced up the stairs and let out a huge sigh of relief, placing her hand upon her chest as she inhaled, when she found him sleeping deeply where he should be. Tiptoeing, she went back down the stairs so that she wouldn't wake him and opened the fridge to grab a quick bedtime snack before she retired herself. There was a small container in the fridge with her name on it and a little note. Curiously, Abby pulled it out and read the paper attached.

_Abs,  
>Thought you might want a small snack before bed.<br>Made you some fruit salad. Enjoy._

_Connor_

Abby stared at it; Connor didn't normally do that kind of stuff for her. If she was there when he was making a snack, he always prepared extra for her, but he never went out of his way like this if she wasn't around. She wondered what had gotten into him lately. The words he had spoken to her the morning before had been running through her head for nearly two days straight now. She put the container on the kitchen table and went grab a spoon from the drawer. It was then that she suddenly noticed just how clean the place actually looked. She hesitated and then spun slowly around the room, noticing that there wasn't a thing out of place and everything seemed to be brighter than normal. She walked into the living room and it was the same thing there. Even Connor's games had all been tidied up. It wasn't just the cleanliness that made the room look brighter though, Abby noticed, the light bulb over by the far wall that had been burnt out for the past eight months had been fixed.

_Connor had actually cleaned?_

She wandered from room to room opening closets and cupboards to see the extent of his work, and not a thing appeared to be left undone. She headed back to the kitchen and grabbed a piece of paper from the pad on the fridge and a pen. She quickly left him a Thank-You note for the salad and for cleaning and stuck it on the refrigerator door where he'd see it when he made himself breakfast in the morning. She figured he'd been in bed for awhile and would probably be up before her. She ate the salad (which was made out of apples, bananas, blackberries, peaches, pears, mangos and strawberries) and then headed for bed herself.

* * *

><p>It was five in the morning when Connor's alarm woke him up and he quickly shut it off again so that he wouldn't wake Abby. Time for Day Three: Flowers and Gifts. He didn't actually have to wake up at the break of dawn to give Abby a present, but he wanted to. He wanted her to wake up and find something on her nightstand before she even got out of bed. He figured it'd put her in a good mood for the rest of the day. The flowers, he decided, since he didn't want them to wilt before he could give them to her. The store lady had promised that the bright blue daisies would last for days. He pulled the wrapped flowers out of their plastic wrapping and headed downstairs to find a glass to put them in. He gave them a drink and immediately they looked a bit fuller of life than they had just a few moments before. He then looked to grab some paper and found Abby's note to him. She had noticed all his work! He grinned and sat down at the table with another sheet of paper and thought hard about what he should write to her to go with the flowers.<p>

It took him awhile, but finally he smiled and jotted down, _"Morning Abs, I missed you yesterday. I found these flowers at the grocery store and their brilliant blue colour reminded me of your brilliant blue eyes. They seem to be cheerful just like you, so I couldn't resist getting them for ya. Hope you like them. ~ Connor"._

He had also bought her a delicate looking silver bracelet with little blue forget-me-nots in it, but he decided to wait until later to give her that one so that he could watch her unwrap it. He'd tell her it was a gift to show his appreciation for everything she did for him. Grinning to himself, he carefully carried the flowers upstairs and placed them on her nightstand where she'd see them the moment her eyes opened, and then yawned and headed back to bed himself, planning on re-awakening at a much, much, _much _more decent hour of the day.


	8. French Toast

Abby slowly opened her eyes as the sunlight filtered into her room in a green hue due to the curtains hanging from her window. She found herself face to face with a glass filled with bright blue daisies that she was certain had not been there the night before. She stared at them, puzzled, for a few minutes as she tried to force herself awake and then suddenly sat upright. Had Connor put them there? He wasn't exactly the type to buy flowers for her, but who else could have done it?

She noticed the note a moment later and lay back against her pillow again as she held it above her face and read it. Her mouth dropped open and she read it a second time, and then a third and a fourth. Apparently Connor really _had_ done this for her. And he said he had missed her, yet it'd been barely 24 hours since she'd seen him last (awake). This really was decidedly not Connor behaviour, but it was something she could definitely get used to, she admitted to herself as she placed the note in a box that kept her most treasured and secret possessions. She hopped cheerfully out of bed and dressed quickly in a hot pink tank top and white flared skirt. Connor liked it when she wore bright colours; she knew that because he used to stare at her the most when she did. She put on a bit of make-up even though it was their day off, and skipped down the steps to the kitchen. Connor didn't seem to be around just at the moment so she decided she'd make him her special French Toast for breakfast. It was his favourite, but she normally saved it for his birthday or Christmas.

Connor came down the stairs just as she was dishing the fully cooked breakfast out onto plates.

"Abby?" he questioned as he peered over her shoulder, causing her to turn around. He looked at her in disbelief, "Is that really French Toast?"

Abby put down the plate and then threw her arms around his neck and kissed his cheek like she had that day in the old sorta-haunted house. "Connor! You bought me flowers!"

Connor grinned at her enthusiasm. When he'd woken up again, he'd realised that she'd have discovered them by now and had half dreaded her telling him that it wasn't appropriate behaviour for them seeing as they were just friends. But here she was kissing him for the second time ever and cooking his favourite breakfast. Plus, she was all dressed up again and Sarah's words about the dressing up being for him came back. So flowers were definitely acceptable. He returned her hug and then let go of her quickly again.

"Abby this looks and smells delicious and," he hesitated and then looked at her strangely, "so do you. Are you wearing perfume?"

"Body scent, same thing I guess, but cheaper. Strawberry Vanilla scented."

"Well, you smell lovely and look pretty," he commented, remembering Sarah's advice about keeping up with the compliments.

To his amazement, Abby actually blushed. He didn't think he'd ever seen her do that before and he smiled as he saw her quickly duck her head down and watched her reposition the food on the plates for no real reason. Sarah was right; Abby definitely liked him as more than a friend. Connor had a sudden urge to ask her to be his girlfriend right then and there, but he refrained himself. He was going to finish his list, no matter what. He reached around Abby's tiny frame and grabbed one of the plates, seating himself at the kitchen table to enjoy the treat she'd made for him.

Abby took a second to compose herself; she couldn't believe she'd just blushed in front of Connor. She really hoped he hadn't noticed. Abby never blushed, but she'd just been so flattered by his words. The last few days had felt like a dream she never wanted to wake up from. She'd been hoping for months that Connor would start noticing her again, but she'd never expected anything more than the ogling or bad attempts at flirting from him. She'd have been quite happy to accept that from him because it was Connor, but this, this by far surpassed any of her hopes.

And yet, he wasn't hers at all. Her face fell as she suddenly remembered that he was crushing on some girl he'd met at the bar. They were still off today, if there were no anomaly alerts, and Abby wondered if he planned on seeing her. She'd been hoping they could spend the day togethr. She'd even decided to offer to play video games with him. He was always begging her to and she'd always refused before. Now she was rather looking forward to it. It'd be her turn to do something with him, and spending the afternoon next to Connor on the couch didn't seem so bad at the moment at all.

"Abby?"

Abby shook her head to clear her thoughts and found that Connor was staring at her, fork half way to his mouth. He put it down and continued, "Aren't you going to sit down?"

Abby nodded and sat across from him with her breakfast plate. Connor noticed she suddenly looked a bit sad, "Abs, are you okay?"

"I'm fine, I just, I had plans for today and I just realised they probably won't work."

Connor frowned; Abby had plans for the day? She hadn't mentioned it before. He knew he shouldn't be happy about her plans falling through, not when she looked so upset about it, but he needed to keep her around today. He wanted to give her the bracelet still too.

"What plans, Abs? With who? I'll do something with you if you want."

"Really? You are available today then?" Abby's face lit up, "I'm sorry, I figured you'd be going out. Plans for _us_ of course; they'll work after all then."

"I never said I was going out, Abby. Why did you think that? I never go out really, do I? What plans? What do you want to do?"

"I was thinking that we could just stay in all day and play your video games."

Connor nearly choked on his toast.


	9. Video Games

"Uh," Connor hesitated, "Is that some kind of joke?"

Abby laughed and shook her head, "No, I figure if you like them so much there's gotta be something to the games, yeah? Anyway, seeing as you cleaned everything, thank-you by the way, I can relax without feeling guilty today."

"Okay, but Abs, you should know ahead of time that video games are _not_ relaxing. They're hard work. You could die at any time you know, quite stressful really."

Abby laughed again, "Probably will die too, many times over, no idea what I'm doing."

"I'll teach ya!" Connor jumped up excitedly and tried to drag Abby over to the living room.

"Wait! Connor! Stop!" Abby protested, quickly planting her feet firmly into the ground beneath her chair, "Let me eat first!"

Connor guiltily apologized and, to Abby's surprise, started clearing up the kitchen and scrubbing the pan that Abby had used to cook.

"Thanks," she said quietly to him.

He smiled back at her, "You're welcome."

* * *

><p>Abby finished eating just as all the dishes were washed and she told Connor to go and get dressed while she dried them. He hurried off and changed and then grabbed his mobile to text Sarah before going back down.<p>

_Abby likes me,_ he typed quickly.

A few minutes later, the reply arrived:_ Duh_. And then, a moment later a second message arrived,_ Did she tell you that?_

Connor responded, _Not in words. She's dressed all pretty & she wants 2 stay in & play video games with me. &, she blushed & she kissed my cheek again, all in 1 morn._

_U gonna ask her out?_

_Nope, not yet. Stickin' to the plan._

_Good luck!_

_Ty, Sarah. G2G, the games await._

He shoved his mobile back into his pocket and pulled out the little gift-wrapped box with the bracelet in it. He thought he'd give it to Abby for beating her first boss monster. Then maybe she'd want to play games with him more often.

* * *

><p>A few minutes later, Connor had perched himself on the couch and was busy setting up a two-person game where Connor and Abby could play as a team. He wasn't sure how good she was and thought it would be unfair if he was opposing her and she didn't stand a chance.<p>

"Abby!" Connor called out when everything was ready to play.

Abby entered the room and set two hot cups of tea before them and then plopped down beside him on the couch, tucking her feet up under her skirt beside her and sitting as close to Connor as she could without actually touching him, despite the fact that there was plenty of space on the other end of the couch for her to move over.

"You gotta name your character," Connor informed her, showing her how to select the letters.

"What'd you name yours?"

"Sir Sid the Third."

Abby laughed, "Okay then, I'll be Lady Nancy the Second."

Connor nodded his approval and Abby quickly typed the name in and Connor showed her how to play. To Connor's surprise, Abby seemed to be enjoying the game and she made no effort to stop playing. They worked well together as a team, he thought. Two hours later they had fought and solved their way to the castle where the boss character (a dragon named Ichabod) appeared. Connor grinned, and promised himself that he would give the blonde at his side the bracelet as soon as they won this battle.

"Here," he said, "This one's gonna be a real team effort. You gotta get close so that he runs after you, and when he runs toward you, I'll bomb him from behind."

Abby nodded and bounced a bit where she sat as she concentrated on getting Lady Nancy close, but not too close, to Ichabod. The battle lasted about ten minutes, but finally Ichabod had perished. Abby cheered excitedly and gave Connor a high five. Connor grinned at her enthusiasm and then paused the game and handed Abby the present.

"Here!" he said, "It's your reward for beating your first boss!"

Abby stared at the box, wrapped in emerald green, in puzzlement. "Where'd that come from?"

"Bought it yesterday. Have to be honest though, Sarah helped me pick it out for you. I made the final decision though."

"But I hadn't even offered to play the game with you yesterday."

Connor laughed, "Well, I guess it's not totally for beating the first boss than, is it? The reason for the gift is to tell you thanks for putting up with me all the time. The reason I am giving it to you right _now_, is because you beat the boss."

"With your help," Abby said, "It was a joint effort." She was too surprised to say anything else about the gift specifically. She really wasn't quite sure what to expect as she opened it, but she gasped when she saw the bracelet. "Connor, I love it!"

Connor grinned, "I knew you would. Here, I'll help you put it on. He reached for it and gently clasped the bracelet around her wrist. Abby then held her wrist up, letting the bracelet dangle slightly as she examined it closer.

"Connor, what's going on? Why are you acting so... nice, lately?" Nice wasn't exactly the word she wanted, but she didn't know what was at the moment.

Connor shrugged, he wasn't about to tell her anything yet, it was only Day Three after all, instead he reached out quickly and ruffled her short hair, "Me? Nice? I don't think so, Abs. It's you that's being nice to me. You made me French Toast and now you're playing video games with me. You're just confused, that's all. It's you that's being nice."

Well, he was right about one thing, Abby decided; she was definitely confused. But also pleased, oh so very, _very _pleased. Or at least she would be if the thought about some girl in a bar would leave her mind. Tomorrow, she decided, tomorrow she'd demand the truth about that. Today though, with the bracelet on her wrist and the flowers on her nightstand and Connor at her side, she didn't want to think about it. The truth could possibly ruin her enjoyment of the moment so, just for today, she wouldn't say a thing.


	10. Lavish Her

Connor woke up and tried to remember how he had let Sarah convince him that Day Four was a good idea. The other days had been somewhat easy for him. Sure he'd been a bit nervous once or twice, but overall he'd felt rather good about the plan, especially now that he was sure (almost sure, at least) that Abby did like him. But day four was so vague. He hadn't even known what Sarah meant when she'd written down: "Day Four: Lavish Her". How on earth was he supposed to do that?

Sarah had laughed at his puzzled expression and explained that he was going to spend the entire day, or as much of the day as he could being as they had to work, making Abby feel special to him. Every single thing he did that day was supposed to be about Abby. Connor was still having trouble with what exactly that meant and Sarah told him to make sure that when they were standing near each other, his arm was around her, if they were walking somewhere, he had to hold her hand. He was to pull chairs out for her and open doors for her and he was supposed to talk to her. Not just normal talking, he had to ask her about her hopes and dreams and tell her his: not the ones about Abby of course, that would ruin the rest of the week, but stuff about his childhood and just little personal tidbits that no one else knew.

Connor grabbed his mobile and sent Sarah a text: _SOS. Sarah, I Can't Do This One!_

_Why not?_ As usual, the reply came almost immediately.

_Abby'll think I've gone mad!_

_She's been dressin' up for you, Con. It means she WANTS your attention._

Connor supposed that Sarah was right, but he wasn't going to tell her that yet, just in case. Instead he just replied:_ See u in a few hours._ And put the phone away, knowing that Sarah would be going crazy wondering if he was giving up on her or not. He wouldn't of course, but he was dead nervous about it and he wasn't going to tell Sarah anything just yet. He felt his phone vibrate and ignored it until it started to drive him crazy. Four new messages.

_Connor! Are you going to do it?_

_Connor! Answer Me!_

_CONNOR TEMPLE YOU BETTER BE LAVISHING ABBY_

_Connor, I'm gonna kill you when you get to work._

Connor winced, but he figured that escaping certain death was a regular occurrence at work anyway and he had more important things to think about than Sarah's temper at the moment. The physical stuff he knew how to do, and provided Abby didn't pull away her hand or whatever, he certainly had no problem holding hers, even if he was proper scared to initiate it. But the other stuff, the _talking _stuff, he wasn't even sure how to bring that up. Seriously, what was he supposed to say to make her tell him stuff about her? He didn't want to come across too random or nosy or weird.

He got dressed as he debated that the best course of action would be to just play it by ear. He'd do the other stuff and try to bring up the conversations, if it came up. Otherwise, maybe Sarah would have some extra advice for him later at work if she didn't actually kill him first.

* * *

><p>Abby sighed as she set the table for breakfast. Connor was still up in his room, but she'd heard some banging around so she guessed he was awake. She was so certain that he was going to go back to being normal Connor now that it was Monday, and she really wasn't looking forward to it. Sure she had fallen in love with 'Normal Connor', but 'Connor-That-Made-Her-Feel-Extra-Special' was even better.<p>

She had been thinking all night that it was weird that Connor wasn't hanging around with this girl at the bar he must like and she had started to doubt there even was one. After all, he'd never actually _mentioned_ someone else and he certainly hadn't left her side to go meet up with someone different. Perhaps she'd been mistaken; she hoped so. On Saturday she had been worried all day that he was out with someone else while she'd been house hunting with Jack, but she realised now that he could not possibly have done all that cleaning if he had. Whoever this girl was, if there was one, Connor almost seemed to have forgotten about her. Anyways, Abby was Connor's best friend, she knew much more about what he liked and didn't like. Surely she could steal him from someone he'd probably only met once. But she'd have to make triple sure he noticed her. So got dressed up again for the third time in four days. This time she was wearing a bright orange top and a hot pink skirt. He'd have to notice that. She'd shoved some more appropriate clothing in a backpack in case there were any anomalies and thrown it by the front door.

* * *

><p>Connor came downstairs while Abby was drying the breakfast dishes and waiting for him before eating. He stood in the doorway for a minute and then, to Abby's amazement, he came and stood behind her, put his hands around her waist and kissed her cheek. "Mornin'!" he said cheerfully. Abby shivered with pleasure at his touch as Connor let go of her waist and grabbed her hand, twirling around to get a good look at her.<p>

"Hmm," he said with a grin and nodded as though he were approving her outfit, "Beautiful as always." Then he pulled out a chair for her and gestured for her to sit down, "Sit! I'll get your plate for you."

Abby just stared at him and Connor noted that his earlier conclusions were accurate. The look on her face plainly said that she thought he'd gone mad, crazy_ and_ insane. However, underneath that, he could plainly see that she was thrilled with the attention.

"Abby," Connor said seriously as he sat across from her, "If I don't come back from work today, I want you to beat the video game, for me."

Abby stared at him, "Why wouldn't you come back?"

Connor shrugged, "I think Sarah's plotting something against me. Said she'd kill me, she did."

"What on _earth_ did you do to Sarah?" Abby laughed and scolded him at the same time.

"Who said _I_ did anything?"

"Obvious enough."

"I ignored her texts this morning. Think she's pissed." He pulled out his mobile and showed her just the final one about killing him when he got to work before taking it back.

Abby rolled her eyes, "Don't worry, Con. I won't let her hurt you too badly."

"Thanks, Abs!" Connor beamed.

They ate quickly and Connor cleared the table. "Abby, we should walk to work today. We have time if we leave now." He knew Abby would leave now anyway, and just get to the ARC early, she always did on Mondays and he wanted to spend a bit longer with her first.

Abby hesitated and then smiled, "Yeah, okay, that'd be a nice change actually. Wouldn't mind the fresh air."

Connor grinned and they put their shoes on and headed out the door. It was at that point that Connor did something Abby found completely shocking and somewhat thrilling. He reached out and grabbed her hand to hold in his as they walked.


	11. Holding Her Hand

Connor expected that Abby would pull her hand from his, he really did, but she did nothing of the sort though she did glance at him a bit unsurely and he wondered why. He supposed he should ask her what she was thinking, after all they _were_ supposed to be having all these special talks today, but he didn't want to embarrass her, or himself. So instead he just squeezed her hand a bit tighter and walked as close to her as possible without tripping on her and knocking them both to the ground.

* * *

><p>Abby hoped that Connor couldn't feel how quickly her pulse had sped up through their joined palms. She felt a tiny bit uncomfortable as she wondered if he had even realised that he was holding on to her. Would he get all embarrassed when he realised and then she'd have to be embarrassed for not pulling away? The gifts were one thing, but holding hands was most decidedly something that "just friends" did not do and Connor had certainly never taken hers before. Well, that wasn't entirely true, he'd held her hand for a couple of seconds here or there when they were running from any kind of something-osaurus or whatever, but she'd never thought that counted. This was different.<p>

But then he squeezed her hand even tighter and when she looked at him she saw him smiling at her. She relaxed and smiled back; he did know what he was doing after all. She was really beginning to think that the girl in the bar had been nothing more than her own imagination. Surely Connor would have mentioned her by now. She'd been worried for days, but she was realising that her worry had been needless. She decided not to bring it up yet, but she'd ask him later.

Just as they reached the ARC, Connor dropped her hand and reached for his swipe card to let them in. He held the door open for her and then entered behind her. Then he glanced at her, "Which way are you heading?" Even though he knew the answer.

"Gotta go check on the mammoth," Abby answered. The mammoth was the reason Abby always got to work earlier on Mondays. She missed her giant friend over the weekend and couldn't wait to check up on him again.

"Alright!" Connor grinned, "Come on then, I'll walk you there and then I've gotta head to the lab."

Abby turned to him, "Connor, I really am quite capable of finding the menagerie on my own."

"Didn't say that, did I? Maybe I want to see the mammoth too."

"Or…."

"Or maybe I want to hold the pretty girl's hand a few minutes longer," Connor grinned, taking her hand once more as he lead her through the ARC.

Abby just gaped at him and noticed a few other people were doing the same as they watched them walk hand-in-hand towards the menagerie. Only, those people were probably gaping at her too for not pulling away, she decided.

Connor dropped her off at the menagerie and left her with another quick kiss on the cheek before heading back to the lab where Sarah was tapping her foot impatiently and waiting for him.

Connor winced when he saw her.

"What's up, Connor?" she asked in a tone that was annoyed. "You're usually here before this."

"Abs usually makes us come early on Mondays. Today though, we walked."

He could see that Sarah was taking that information in with stride. She hesitated a bit longer and then asked him cautiously, "Are you sticking to the list?"

"Kinda. She let me hold her hand the entire way here!" Connor's face burst into the grin that he couldn't contain any longer and all trace of annoyance disappeared from Sarah's face. She flung her arms around Connor's neck into a quick hug to show her delight and then demanded that he tell her everything.

Connor told her and then broached his fears with her about how to bring up the things that Sarah wanted him to bring up. Sarah smiled at him, "I was starting to double think that part myself: was a bit worried about what'd you'd say. Might put your foot in your mouth, though I'm not sure how, I_ am_ sure that you'd manage. So, I've got something for you to make it really easy."

Connor was definitely listening. Sarah rummaged around in her purse and then pulled out two identical pieces of paper that seemed to have some questions written on them.

"My young cousin," she explained, "is always finding these things online that she likes to call "Fun Personality Surveys." Basically, they are kind of like a game to get to know each other, it's a list of questions and both person puts in their own answers. The questions range from easy stuff like "What is your birthday?" to silly stuff like, "Have you ever joined the circus?" to more serious ones like, "What are your goals in life?" I printed out a copy for each of you. Just tell Abby you want to play the game with her. Then you each fill out your own answers and compare them with each other later and talk about any that surprise you or you didn't know. The point is to be totally, 100% honest in them. There are 25 questions on this one, which my cousin sent me last night, and I've read over them. They are all safe to use without revealing your feelings for Abby before the list is done and will get you the information that you need for Day Six, which you'll need by tomorrow to prepare for. The only one I'm slightly concerned about is that there is a freebie option… The last question reads in a way that will give Abby a chance to ask you anything she wants, so you'll just have to be careful how you answer to keep your little secret for a few more days."

Connor scanned over the questions and grinned: this was perfect! He excused himself and headed straight back to menagerie, determined to explain the game to Abby so that they could fill them in while they were apart for a bit at work and then discuss the answers as soon as they got home that afternoon.


	12. Packy

Abby was just leaving the menagerie when Connor appeared beside her, eagerly shoving a piece of paper toward her face.

"Look Abs! We've gotta play this game!"

Abby jumped a little, startled at his appearance in her face, and then pushed the paper down so she could actually see him. "Connor, I don't know what you're on about, but I'm sure Lester won't appreciate us playing games at work."

"He'll never know." Connor shoved the paper into her hands, "Just answer the questions on there, okay? And then, when we get home, we compare answers!"

Abby looked at him doubtfully, "This is a game? It sounds more like paperwork."

"Ha ha, very funny. It'll be fun, Abby, it's a way of getting to know the weird unknown little things about each other that we wouldn't normally have thought to bring up in conversation. Sarah said she plays with her cousin sometimes and I thought it'd be fun for me and you to do. Please!"

Abby finally scanned the questions on the piece of paper and then finally nodded, "Yeah, okay, why not? I guess I can fill this out."

"Thanks Abby!" Connor grinned at her and gave her a quick hug. He was about to turn and leave again when suddenly the anomaly alert siren pierced the air. Connor and Abby's eyes met as they silently communicated with one another through years of experience. Then Connor grabbed Abby's hand, gave it a tight squeeze and let go to meet the team in front of the ADD to find out where it was, and Abby ran off to get changed into some more practical clothing knowing that Connor would stall Danny just long enough for her to catch up, if he needed to.

* * *

><p>A few minutes later, the team all piled into cars and drove off toward a small park located near the Forest of Dean. Danny, Becker and Connor were in one vehicle heading straight to the anomaly and Sarah and Abby were in another, making a quick stop on the way to pick up as much fruit as they could from the local grocer. Apparently a creature had come through, as evidenced by a photograph someone had managed to get on his now confiscated mobile, and Connor had known immediately that it was an herbivore who loved berries and fruits. They wanted to lure it back through the anomaly that way.<p>

As Sarah drove to the anomaly after loading the car with fruit, Abby fiddled with the bracelet on her wrist and then suddenly turned to Sarah. "I have to thank-you. Connor said you helped him pick this out for me." She held up her arm.

Sarah shrugged, "I didn't really. Connor chose it himself, completely his idea. I just went along and confirmed to him that his hunch, no matter how much trouble he had believing it himself, was correct and that you really _would_ prefer the bracelet over the Ultimate Limited Edition Collectable Star Wars Light Sabre. He was quite torn. Told me he was sure you'd prefer the bracelet he'd chosen but he wanted my opinion because it was a bit incomprehensible to him and he doubted his own choice."

Abby was laughing as she replied, "Well, still, sounds like I really owe you a thank-you!"

Sarah nodded and grinned back, "You're welcome."

Abby was tempted to ask Sarah if she knew anything about a girl in a bar, just to make sure, but at that moment they arrived at the park and Connor came rushing up to help them unload.

Apparently the Pachycephalosaurus, which they were now just calling Packy, had a good sense of smell. As soon as they began unloading it made its way out of the forest and back into the playground. Becker and Danny had their weapons pointed at it but knew that if they actually shot the creature, it'd be them that wound up dead (due to Abby's temper) and not the creature. Packy seemed quite calm as he stood regarding the team in surprise. Abby picked up a bag of the fruit and very slowly inched her way towards Packy. The dinosaur made no indication that it wanted to attack her, nor that it was actually scared of her. It simply stood and looked at her with casual curiosity.

When she got really close to it, Packy leaned down and sniffed at Abby's hair and the hand which she held high with an apple in it. Then he munched the apple right from her hand. Abby grinned and pulled another one from the bag, this time taking a few steps backwards toward the anomaly. Packy seemed quite content to follow her. Abby felt no fear from this dinosaur; it wasn't a threat to her at all, though the other members of the teams hearts pounded wildly as they watched, ready to shoot if necessary.

After feeding Packy a total of twelve apples, Abby finally reached the anomaly and threw the next piece through it. Packy trotted through obediently and the team cheered. Connor dashed to the locking devise but before he could hit anything Abby yelled, "Wait!"

To their amazement, Packy was coming back through. The team looked at each other in surprise. Packy didn't seem frightened of anything on the other side so they doubted something had chased him, he just casually looked at Abby expectantly as though he had found the fruit she had thrown and now wanted more.

"Looks like you've made a new friend there, Abigail!" Becker called to her.

Abby threw a second piece through the anomaly as Connor got ready to lock it again, but this time Packy didn't even go through. Instead he gave Abby a little nudge with his head, knocking her to the ground gently, and then grabbed the bag she held, ripping it open and calmly eating the fruit off the ground. The others stood, wondering how to get Packy to go back through. Abby gently petted the dinosaur beside her and he nuzzled her hair with his nose before going back to his snack.

Behind them, the anomaly closed and Danny sighed. "Alright then, Sarah you're with me. We'll need to find a truck large enough to transport Abby's new pet back to the menagerie. Connor, Becker, stay here and don't let it escape." He didn't even bother giving Abby any orders, knowing that she had no intention of leaving Packy's side.

They nodded and Sarah followed Danny back to the vehicles. Becker stood off to the side for a bit, gun still pointed at Packy just in case, though he had a feeling it wouldn't be necessary. Connor grabbed a second bag of fruit and moved over and joined Abby who was still sitting in the grass where she'd fallen. He sat cross-legged beside her and Packy stopped eating for a moment to look at him and sniff him but, sensing no threat from Connor either, he went back to his meal. Connor dumped the second bag into Packy's pile.

"I'm keeping him," Abby whispered to Connor, "He chose me over the cretaceous."

Connor put an arm around Abby and kissed her forehead, "Yep, saw that. Hope he likes mammoths."

They sat for a bit, petting and feeding Packy, until the others returned with the truck. Packy had finished his snack, but no more was necessary as he followed Abby obediently into the back of the moving truck when she called him.

Abby glanced at the others, "I don't want him scared; drive slowly, I'm gonna ride back here with him."

"Bad idea, Abby," Becker said firmly, "What if he gets frightened in confinement and attacks you?"

"He won't. I'm riding with him."

Connor grabbed a gun and looked at Becker. "I'll protect her if necessary, but it won't be."

Becker sighed, knowing he wasn't gonna win this one and went back to his own vehicle. Connor lifted Abby into the back of the truck and then hopped up himself. They both sat beside each other as Danny closed up the back and then went to join Sarah who insisted on driving to ensure that Danny couldn't make any of his usual sudden stops.

Packy lay down, near Connor and Abby, looking a bit nervous when the truck started moving but content to trust them. Connor grinned and reached out to squeeze Abby's hand, the gun abandoned beside him.

"Thanks Connor, for trusting me about him," she whispered, letting her head fall to his shoulder.

Connor grinned and they sat like that the entire drive back to the ARC.


	13. Questions

**A/N: Yes, I'm aware that in ep 2.4 Abby & Connor DID go through an anomaly, but for this story, they haven't. It's AU and, for this story, there was never any "I love you" scene yet, which is why I purposely included the fact that they haven't gone through an anomaly.**

Lester stared as Connor and Abby calmly approached the ADD casually followed by an overgrown lizard.

"Maitland! Temple!" he yelled out as he approached them, but not too closely, "What the _hell_ is that thing doing here?"

"Just showin' Packy his new home, Sir," Connor replied. "Don't worry we'll take him down to the menagerie in a moment."

Abby and Connor quickly scurried down the hall, still followed closely by Packy, before their boss could respond.

Once they were walking down the quiet hall to the menagerie, Abby glanced up at Connor and then shyly slipped her hand back into his, wondering how he'd react. Immediately he squeezed it and smiled at her.

* * *

><p>Connor felt a bit badly when he felt Abby take his hand. The dinosaur behind him had caused him to forget, for just a moment, that he was supposed to be lavishing Abby all day. He should have been holding her hand already. And yet, the fact that she had initiated it made him smile. He was so convinced now that Abby loved him that he almost felt bad making her wait to tell her, but he really wanted to finish the list. It was better this way.<p>

Long after everyone else had left the ARC for the night, Abby was still hanging around with her new pet. She seemed reluctant to leave him for the night. Connor sat beside her waiting patiently. He'd finished his work in the lab for the day and wanted to walk home with her, but this day was supposed to be all about Abby, so he didn't rush her.

After awhile, Abby turned to him, "I'm sorry I'm taking so long; we can leave now."

Connor reached and squeezed her hand, "It's up to you Abby, I don't mind waiting."

"Thanks, but Sid, Rex and Nancy are probably a little more impatient than you as they wait for their dinner."

Connor laughed and stood up, pulling her to her feet with him. They didn't say anything else until they were out of the ARC and then Abby turned to him, "I'm fond of them all you know, but Packy's the only creature since Rex that came back to me out of his own free will. I kinda like that. I feel a bit like they're my special friends since they trust me so much and chose to be with me."

"What about me? I trust ya and I choose to be with ya!"

Abby laughed, "Yes, Connor, you're special too."

"Did you answer the questions?"

Abby nodded, "Yep, we'll compare them after you cook dinner."

"Got me casseroles in the freezer, just gotta warm them up."

* * *

><p>An hour later they cuddled together on the couch, each holding the other person's survey.<p>

"Okay," Connor said, "We'll take turns reading the questions and each other's answers. Do you want to go first?"

"No, you can."

"Alright. Question one was: What is your favourite colour and why? You've written green, but you didn't put why."

"Sorry, I guess I forgot that part. I've always liked green. It's such a natural colour. Besides, Rex is green!"

Connor laughed, "Good enough, you go."

Abby glanced at the paper in her hands, "You're favourite colour is blue because…." She paused and blushed a bit, "Because Abby's eyes are blue." Abby glanced up at Connor, "Thanks."

Connor shrugged, "True though. Would've said red before I met you, you know."

Abby laughed, "Okay, question two: Have you ever joined the circus. You said no, simple enough."

"Ditto with you, but I'm sure you knew that, so no surprises here. Question three: What is your favourite sport? You put kickboxing. Again, not a surprise."

"And you put, and I quote, "I like spectator sports. I especially enjoy watching Abby kickbox." You know, I'm gonna have to actually teach you one day."

"Sounds like a plan, probably come in quite handy I'd presume."

"Okay, next is: when is your birthday? You put Oct. 29th, but I guess I already knew that."

"Same, I know yours is April 1st without even looking at the paper, so onto number five. Who was the last person to tell you that you were beautiful? Hey, you put me down!"

"Of course I did; it was what? This morning? How often do you think I hear it?"

"Not enough if I haven't said it since then. You're beautiful, Abigail Maitland."

Abby grinned and then glanced at the paper in her hand and read Connor's response, "Not really a lot of people use the word beautiful to describe me. Last I remember was my Great Aunt Edna. Told everyone at me tenth birthday that I'd been a beautiful baby. Proper embarrassed me, it did." Abby laughed.

"It's not funny!" Connor protested.

"I'm sorry, but it kind of is. Well, I don't know if beautiful is the best word, but I think you mighty handsome, Connor Temple," Abby said, leaning to kiss his cheek and then quickly turning back to the questionnaire again, "Question six: Do you have any pets? Obvious answers here, I don't think we even need to read them."

"Nope," replied Connor, "Nothing surprising here so number seven is: Are you currently missing someone? And you put… me?"

"You weren't in the room at the time."

"Now that's sweet, Abs."

Abby glanced at the paper in her hand, "Nick Cutter," she read, squeezing Connor's hand a bit tighter. "Connor, I'm sorry."

"It's alright Abby, I reckon I'll always miss him."

Abby gave him a hug and then read, "How old were you when you stopped believing in Santa?" Abby raised her eyebrows, "You put thirteen. Wow, isn't that a bit old?"

"And you were two? No wonder you think thirteen is old."

"Fair enough."

"Number nine, have any of your childhood dreams come true? If so, what? You answered yes, you always wanted to work with animals."

"And you put, "Owning a dinosaur," I bet very few kids ever make that one come true!"

"Sucks to be them."

Abby shook her head and laughed, "Okay number ten. Do you have any unfulfilled dreams and what? You put: many of them, I wanted to become the world chess champion and an astronaut, and have as many fans as the Star Wars movie does for does for doing so. Turns out people don't actually watch chess."

"And you put that you wanted to go camping in the living room? How… adventurous."

Abby laughed, "It was something my best friend's family used to do when I was about six. Once a month they'd set up the living room with a tent and roast marshmallows in the fireplace. She always told me how they'd sing camp songs and the whole family enjoyed spending the family time together. They did that for years! My family never had any family traditions, other than screaming at each other on holidays, and I always wondered what it would be like. Amanda, my friend, said it was even better than camping outdoors because it was much warmer and there were no mosquitos."

"True that. Okay, eleven, your short bucket list. Name five things you want to do before you die. You put, get married, return the mammoth, Sid, and Nancy to their own time periods, visit Egypt, actually go through an anomaly," Connor raised an eyebrow at that as he read, "And of course, go camping in the living room."

"Don't you wonder what it'd be like?"

"Camping in the living room?"

"No, Silly, going through an anomaly. Nick, Ryan and Stephen all did it, but we never have. I wonder what it feels like walking through the magnetic force. Do you think it's weird?"

"Never much thought about it, surprisingly enough."

"I don't know how you can't. Okay your five were: convince Abby to watch the entire Lord of the Rings Trilogy Extended Edition, Find out what happened to Cutter's Claudia Brown, Find out what the artefact does, Meet a brachiosaurus, and get married. Wow… didn't think you the type."

"Why not? I'm pretty loyal, I could get married."

"Didn't say you couldn't, just a bit surprised you've thought about it, that's all. Okay, on to number twelve: Who is your favourite Disney character? You put Goofy."

"And you put Pluto. I guess we both like dogs. We should get one."

"A dog? Isn't that a bit normal for us?"

"Why not? We'd have two diictodons, a coelurosauravus, a pachycephalosaurus, a mammoth and a dog?"

Abby just laughed, "Maybe one day Connor, but I think it's best to wait a bit for now. Who knows what'll walk through the anomaly for us to adopt next. Might not have the room."

Connor pouted a bit, but agreed that Abby was probably right.

At that minute the timer beeped, indicating that supper was ready. Abby put down her piece of paper. "Come on, Connor, I'm starving. We'll go over the rest of the questions after we eat."


	14. And Answers

It didn't take long for Connor and Abby to finish their meal and Connor remembered that he was on dish duty without any prompting from Abby, though she was seriously considering letting him off early, thinking he'd easily made up for the hat incident by now. While he was doing the dishes, she wiped down the rest of the kitchen and then they resumed their spot on the couch to finish reading their answers.

"It's my turn to read the question," Connor stated simply, placing his free hand around Abby's shoulders. Abby leaned into him as she had earlier. "What Disney character does the person you are playing this with remind you the most of? You said I remind you of either Goofy, which was my favourite, or of Chip & Dale. But you didn't say which one, they had very different personalities you know."

"I didn't know," Abby said, "Never could tell them apart."

"Chip was more logical, he was the schemer. Dale wasn't as bright but he was goofier. Also, Chip had a black nose and Dale had a red one."

Abby shrugged, "I guess you're like both. Now let's see, you said I remind you of Minnie Mouse?"

"Yep, she was the little cute one who was always getting mad at Mickey for doing dumb stuff."

Abby thought about it and then grinned, "Yeah, okay, I can live with that. Now let's see, question fourteen: if you were stranded on an island, what three items would you want to have with you? You put: A portable video game player with built in games, a huge bag of batteries, and," Abby stopped and bit her lip for a moment, "A picture of Abby. Wow, Connor, I'm speechless, I don't even know what to say about that one."

"Well, I'd never want to forget what you looked like. Let's see, you said: a boat, a pair of oars, and a gun. I guess your answer is far more practical."

"But not nearly as sweet. If boats aren't allowed, I'd definitely take a picture of you too."

Connor shrugged, "Don't worry about it, Abs, I really wasn't expecting you to write the same thing. Now let's see, question fifteen says: do you believe you are smart? You wrote, Yes, but not as smart as Connor. Thanks, Abby!"

Abby glanced at the paper and laughed as she read Connor's reply of, "Smart? I'm bloody brilliant!" She sighed, "Oh, Connor, too bad this questionnaire didn't ask about humility. Alright, moving on, What is your favourite kind of food? You put Abby's French Toast."

"And you wrote Chicken Cordon Bleu with a Caesar Salad on the side, that's posh. Let's see, number seventeen asks: do you collect anything? You put prehistoric animals. Funny, but true."

"And you put video games and Star Trek merchandise, which I can verify is also very true. Number eighteen: what do you look for in a person when deciding whether to date them or not? You put that you have to feel like they like you back."

"Yep, even more so after that whole Caroline incident."

"Never did like her."

"Yeah, well, she's gone. Don't even want to talk about her, shouldn't have mentioned the name, sorry. You wrote that you want to date someone that makes you feel safe and special when they put their arms around you." Connor glanced at his own arm drapped around Abby's shoulders at the moment and wondered how she felt at the moment, but decided not to ask and quickly read, "Number nineteen, what is your favourite flavour of ice cream? You said strawberry."

"And you said Rocky Road. What was the last book you read? You put The International Guide to The Best Video Games. Connor, I don't think that counts as a book."

"Couldn't remember reading anything else really. I mean, I've read books, but not for awhile. You put Dragon Spell by Donita K. Paul."

"Yes, and you really need to sit down and read a novel sometime, take a break from those games."

"Maybe," Connor agreed, "I did always want to compare the books of the Lord of the Rings to the movie, might try them."

"I'll buy them for you myself."

"Then I'll definitely read them," Connor promised. "Twenty-One, have you ever thought about killing yourself? Abby, you put yes?" Connor put down the paper and stared at her with huge worry in his eyes.

Abby snuggled further against him, "And you wrote, "No, I love my life!""

"Abby…"

"Okay, okay, look, Connor, I don't think about stuff like that anymore. I'm happy now, but you know I was abused as a kid, went through a lot, and thought about it often in high school."

"I'm glad you didn't," Connor whispered, hugging her tightly and kissing the top of her head, he shuddered at the thought.

"So am I. You don't have to worry about me though, it's in the past, okay?"

Connor nodded finally and Abby turned back to the paper, happy to change the subject. "Do you like your job? You put, "Best Job Ever"."

"And you put, of course!" Connor read as he picked up his paper again. "Number twenty-three: If you found a wallet full of money, what would you do? You put return it."

"So did you. Twenty-four: What is your favourite song? Connor, you like the theme tune from Star Wars? I wouldn't have guessed." Abby spoke sarcastically.

"Hey John Williams is an amazing composer!"

"He is," Abby agreed, "but I prefer the work he did for the Olympics over the past few decades over his movie scores. Still I agree he is brilliant."

"Didn't think you knew who he was," Connor said admiringly.

"Connor, the guy has done the soundtracks for nearly a hundred huge movies, I might not be a Star Wars fan, but I do watch movies."

Connor shrugged, and turned back to the questionnaire again, "Your favourite song is Don't Stop Moving by S Club 7?"

"Fun, upbeat, puts me in a good mood," Abby replied. "Okay, the last one, and this was the freebie one. So you were supposed to just ask me anything and I have to answer. Let's see, you want to know when the last time I dated someone was?"

Connor shrugged again, "Well it's just, I've never actually seen you go out with anyone. We've been living together for nearly three years now."

Abby hesitated. She didn't want to tell Connor just yet that that was because he was the only one she was actually interested in, especially not until he answered her question. "Yeah, well," she said, "Our job makes it a bit hard I guess. I went out on a blind date one a couple months before I met you. That turned out to be a disaster. Haven't really had a boyfriend since I was fifteen to tell you the truth, and that one lasted about a week. Again, all my family problems made me feel quite insecure for a long time, didn't really believe anyone would like me so I just put on a tough act and tried to send out a vibe that said, "Leave me alone or I'll beat the crap out of you." Must have worked, everyone stayed clear."

"Abby that's sad."

"I don't need your sympathy, Connor."

"I know, Abs."

Abby sighed, "Relationships really scare me, Connor."

"Abby," but Connor didn't really know what to say, so instead he turned back to the paper and read Abby's question for him, "You want to know if I've actually gone out with the girl from the bar yet or not?"

Connor wrinkled his face in puzzlement, "Abby, I don't remember a girl from the bar? Who on earth are you talking about?"

Abby's face lit up, "So you didn't meet a girl at a bar recently?"

"No, of course not? When on earth would this have happened?" Connor frowned. All this time Abby thought he'd been interested in someone else? What on earth had given her that idea?

"I don't know. Recently. You, you asked me to teach you to flirt like I was in the bar again, and all the secret stuff with Sarah, I just assumed…"

Connor shook his head, very much surprised, "No, no Abby, there's no girl in a bar."

Abby breathed a sigh of relief, "Good!"

Connor raised his eyebrow in amusement, "That's a good thing, eh?"

Abby ducked her head in embarrassment and then inhaled deeply. All the attention lately, and if he wasn't seeing anyone, maybe, maybe she should just tell him how she felt. She took a deep breath, "Yeah, it's a good thing. I have to admit, I was a bit jealous. Connor, I think…"

Connor froze, as much as he wanted to hear Abby say it, it was too soon. Without thinking, he quickly interrupted her, "Well, I'm tired, think I'll head on up to bed now. 'Night Abby,"

He quickly kissed her cheek, but the hurt look on her face made him wince when he turned around. He felt hurt himself knowing he'd done that. He took a few steps and then turned back to her and stepped towards her. He quickly took her hand in his, "It's okay, Abs, just give me a couple more days okay?"

She stared at him, puzzled, without saying anything and Connor wondered what Sarah would tell him to do. Finally he pulled her into a hug and whispered to her, "Abby, you're my favourite person in the entire world, you know that right?"

He felt her nod against him and he held her for a few seconds longer before releasing her, knowing that if he didn't leave, he'd blow his secret and tell her how much he loved her right then and there, "I'm sorry, Abs," he said, before turning and going to bed.


	15. Forgiveness & French Toast

Abby had been left feeling very hurt, very confused, and more than a little bit embarrassed. She had seen the look in his eyes when he'd apologized to her, and she did realise that it was hurting him too, but she didn't understand why he had pushed her away like that then. It was obvious that he had known what she'd been about to tell him.

She slept very little that night and, when she woke up, she decided she wanted some sort of revenge. She knew it wasn't much, she didn't totally want to push him away yet, but she had to feel like she was somewhat in control again so she quickly got up and began cooking just enough French Toast for herself. She just needed to prove a point, even if she didn't know what that point really was.

* * *

><p>Connor lay awake almost the entire night worrying that he had ruined everything. He'd have to just keep going, as usual. When he heard Abby get up he dressed and joined her.<p>

"Twice in a week?" he asked her in disbelief when he saw her cooking his favourite meal. He was suddenly hopeful that he hadn't ruined everything after all. This had to be Abby's way of telling him things were fine between them, right?

Instead, Abby glanced at him coolly, "I'm having French Toast. You can make your own breakfast."

Connor's face fell. She was mad, or hurt, quite possibly both. Somehow he'd have to work through this one if he planned on pulling off a successful Day Five. But for Day Five he needed Sarah's help anyway, so he'd figure that out when he got to the ARC. For now he'd have to be content with continuing his earlier projects. He ignored the fact that Abby was being mean to him and kissed her cheek, "Okay," he admitted, "I deserve that."

Then he calmly grabbed a bowl of cereal from the cupboard and poured it for himself.

Abby stared at him for a moment and then quickly removed her toast from the pan before it could burn. She put it on a plate and poured some maple syrup on it. She wasn't sure how she'd expected Connor to react, but kissing her was decidedly not the way. Why did he have to play with her heart like this? But, what if, what if he had thought she was going to say something else the night before? It was Connor; he made mistakes, lots of them. He'd told her to wait a few days; maybe she should give him another chance. Or maybe this was just her heart talking. He had known; she_ knew_ he had known. And yet, she felt she couldn't be mad at him. After all, hadn't Connor been on the receiving end too? How many times had she pushed away his advances in the past and he had just let it slide, hadn't he? He'd done that for the sake of their friendship, even though it had to have hurt.

Abby, took a deep breath and slid the plate with the French Toast toward him, "Here," she said. "I'm not hungry."

Then she quickly left the room to go get changed.

Connor stared at the plate in front of him, wondering what that was supposed to mean and whether he should be going after her. He decided to leave her for the moment. He'd get Sarah's help to fix this later.

* * *

><p>An hour later they walked through the doors of the ARC. The drive over had been silent and awkward, but Abby's heart still fluttered when Connor put his hand on her back and walked her over to the menagerie to visit Packy and the mammoth, both of whom had come running up to greet them as soon as they entered. Connor smiled as he watched Abby's face finally light up again at the sight of them and he grabbed her hand and kissed it before excusing himself to go to the lab.<p>

Sarah was already there.

"Hey, Con," she greeted him.

"I need your help." Connor told her."I think I'm hurting Abby too much with this list."

Sarah looked concerned, "What happened?"

"She tried to tell me how she felt about me last night and I interrupted her and wouldn't let her say it. I wanted to wait. She was quite upset." He told her everything and watched as Sarah thoughtfully continued polishing the artefact.

"So," he prompted her, "What should I do? Should I abandon the list? I'll go tell her everything right now if you think I should."

"No," Sarah said, "Then she'd feel bad about ruining the plan. Just, do what you've been doing, Con. Don't say anything yet, but make sure she can tell you love her by your actions. I'll talk to her this afternoon a bit when I take her out."

"What are you going to say?"

"Never mind."

Connor sighed, knowing that that was the end of the conversation, and turned back to his work.

* * *

><p>Soon after lunch, Sarah joined Abby in the menagerie. "Hey, Abby," she said, "I need your help with something."<p>

"Sure, what is it?" Abby asked, standing up to follow her.

"Oh, not right now, after work I mean. The clothes shopping kind of help. Can you come with me?"

Abby grinned, "Of course! I'd love a shopping trip with you. We'll have to take your car though so Connor can take mine back to the flat."

"Sure, thanks Abby!"

Sarah returned to Connor in the lab, "Okay," she said, "Abby agreed to spend the afternoon with me so you'll have a few hours to prepare for today's project. Do you need help? Do you even have any idea _how_ to prepare a romantic dinner?"

Connor laughed, "You do your part, I'll do mine. Honestly, Sarah, I'll be fine; have some faith, yeah? Abby said on her survey that her favourite food was Chicken Cordon Bleu and Caesar Salad so I'll prepare that! Then I'll dim the lights, play some soft music and put out as many candles as she can find, and after that, maybe a movie, I'm trying to get her to watch The Lord of the Rings with me."

Sarah's face turned from delighted to horrified in an instant, "Connor, that's…"

Connor chuckled, "I'm teasing, Sarah, no movie, it'll be dancing tonight."

Sarah nodded her approval, "Much better. Now, remember, be as quick as you can setting up and text me when you're ready for me to bring her home."

"Will do, Sarah, will do."


	16. Date Needed

Abby appeared at the lab just before the end of their work day and called Connor over to her. "Connor, I need to talk to you for a moment."

Connor nodded and followed her into the hallway.

"Connor, Sarah and I are going shopping for a bit, I'll give you my car keys and she can drop me off later, okay?"

Connor nodded, "Yeah, she told me actually, that's fine Ab, Have fun!" He kissed her cheek and Abby smiled at him as she handed him the keys.

"Do you want me to pick anything specific up for dinner?" Abby asked him.

"No, don't worry about it, I'll cook something for us both while you're out."

"It's my turn."

Connor laughed, "Sure, but how many times have you cooked on my days? I don't mind."

"Thanks, Con! See you later."

She turned and moved to go back into the lab to collect Sarah when Connor suddenly stopped her, "Abs, wait, there is actually something you can pick up if you don't mind."

"Sure, what's that?"

"Champagne."

Abby raised her eyebrows, "Say what?"

Connor shrugged, "Might be nice to have a drink after supper don't you think?"

"Uh, yeah, sure, okay. Didn't know you were a champagne kind of guy, bit posh for a night on the couch with your video games, don't ya think?"

Connor shrugged, "Can't help it if I've got a craving."

Abby laughed, "Alrighty then, champagne it is."

"Thank-you, Abby."

* * *

><p>A few minutes later, Abby and Sarah climbed into Sarah's vehicle and Abby turned to Sarah, "Alright, Sare, what are are shopping for today? Special occasion?"<p>

"Nah, not really. I'm actually just a bit tired of brown and beige. I've seen all the bright colours you've been wearing lately and realised I need a few extra pieces in my wardrobe. Problem is, I'm not sure what will work with my complexion, I need your advice."

"Hmm," said Abby looking at her, "If I were you I'd go more with some pastels, you'd look gorgeous in a light pink."

"And _that's_ why I'm bringing you along."

Abby laughed as they turned into the shopping centre. They spent about an hour trying on clothes and both girls ended up buying a couple of outfits. As they browsed the racks, Sarah pulled a pastel blue sundress off one and handed it to Abby. "Oh this one is so cute and flirty. Go try it on!"

Abby complied and twirled around, "I love it!"

"You should wear it home, that dress'll make Connor's eyes pop out of his head on you, it will."

Abby sighed, "To be honest, Sarah, I'm not sure he's interested in me like that anymore."

"'Course he is, Abby. You may not have noticed, but the rest of the team sure has, he's hardly been letting go of you hand when you're together these past few days. And I definitely saw him kiss your cheek a couple times there."

Abby shrugged, "Yeah, I know. I thought that he was maybe interested, but he sorta pulled away last night when I wanted to bring it up."

"Maybe he needs more time."

"That's what he said actually, said he wanted a few days."

Sarah smiled and Abby suddenly noticed something in her expression. "You know something!" she accused Sarah.

Sarah laughed, "Maybe, maybe not, but just trust me and wear the dress home."

"Oh, alright!" Abby said, "I'll change out of it now so I can pay for it and then you can help me cut the tags off in the bathroom."

"Good."

Abby went back to change and Sarah fired a text message to Connor, "Abby's dressing up, you should match her. Wear dress pants and a light blue shirt."

"What? Does Abby know?"

"No no, don't worry, she's just dressing up 'cuz she does that lately."

"K, ty."

* * *

><p>It was another two hours before Sarah finally received a text from Connor telling her to bring Abby home, but the time flew fast for the two girls who were trying on everything in sight. They had even stopped at a booth and gotten makeovers. Sarah had found a pale pink sundress similar to Abby's in everything but colour and had decided to wear it out of the store too, just for fun. They both received a few whistles as they walked across the parking lot back to the car.<p>

When Sarah pulled up to drop Abby off, Abby grinned at her. "Thanks Sarah, that was fun! We'll have to go shopping more often!"

Sarah laughed, "I'd love to, Abby, but I'm not sure my savings account would appreciate it!"

"Good point, something cheaper next time then."

"Definitely, See ya."

"Bye."

Sarah drove away and Abby moved to her front door. She rang the bell due to the fact that her house key had been on the same ring that she'd given Connor earlier and he opened it immediately.

"Abby, wow, you look great!"

Abby stared at Connor in surprise as she put her bags on the floor and handed Connor the bottle of champagne, "So do you! Why are you all dressed up?"

"Abs, something came up and I need a date for tonight, are you interested?"

Abby hesitated in surprise. They did that for each other sometimes, were each other's plus one at weddings or family parties etc, but usually there was plenty of notice. "Where are we going?"

"The kitchen."

"The... where?" Abby followed Connor further into the flat, puzzled.

"The kitchen," Connor repeated as he saw Abby gasp and spin around.

The small kitchen table had been set for two and there were candles everywhere. Abby could see immediately that Connor had cooked her favourites and was using the fine china that her grandmother had given her. Surprisingly it was still in one piece. There were a couple of wine glasses on the table and a glass in the middle with some roses in it.

"Connor, this is incredible!"

"Yes, but it's not much fun having a candle lit dinner by yourself, is it? So, you'll be my date for tonight?"

Abby threw her arms around his neck and kissed his cheek, "Of course, I will!" she said with a smile, all her doubts forgotten for the time being.


	17. Romantic Night In

After dropping Abby off, Sarah decided to have a bit of fun herself. After all, she was already dressed up and in a good mood. Why waste it? She drove off to a nearby pub and sat herself down on the bar stool, ordered a martini, and looked around to see if there was anyone she wanted to ask to dance.

A moment later she felt a tap on her shoulder and turned around to find Becker and Danny standing beside her.

"Hey!" she smiled at them.

"You look nice, Sarah," Danny smiled at her.

"Thanks, what are you guys doing here?"

"Well, it was going to be a guys night out, grab a few drinks, pick up a few girls," Becker said, "wanna be picked up? You're welcome to join us."

Sarah laughed and then nodded, "Beats sitting here by myself, I'd love to join you guys."

"Come on then," Danny said, escorting her back to a table they had.

The three of them quickly got lost in conversation, but finally Danny had to ask her, "Are you expecting a call? You've been checking your mobile every two minutes."

Sarah nodded, "Just making sure Connor isn't trying to get through. He's got a big date tonight and I've been helping him prepare."

"Connor? On a date?"

Sarah laughed, "Connor can actually be quite romantic, you know. He's transformed his kitchen into a fancy restaurant, candle light, soft music and all. He even dressed up for the occasion."

"Oh, Abby must just love that. What's she supposed to be doing while he's bringing his dates home. Shoulda asked her to join us."

Sarah burst out laughing, "Who the hell do you think his date is?"

Both Danny and Becker's mouths dropped open and, thinking fast, Sarah snapped a picture on her mobile of their expressions to laugh at with Abby later on.

* * *

><p>Back at the flat, Connor had pulled out a chair for Abby and she sat down gracefully. He quickly kissed her cheek as he leaned over and placed a plate in front of her. As he went to move away, Abby caught his sleeve.<p>

"Funny," she said, "we even match."

Connor hesitated, but knew he couldn't lie to her, "Well, actually, that was done on purpose."

Abby looked at him strangely, "How so? You couldn't possibly have known what I was wearing."

"I did."

Realisation crept up into Abby's expression, "Sarah knows about this?"

"She knows," Connor confirmed reluctantly. "She texted me and told me what to wear."

"She never said a word to me!"

"Of course not; I asked her not to."

Abby smiled, "I'm glad you kept it a surprise actually."

"Good."

He moved and sat across from her. At first Connor suggested they don't talk about work, but they quickly realised that that wasn't going to happen as they started laughing hysterically about an incident that had happened that morning when Abby had decided that Lester needed a hand shutting up Christine Johnson and had let Packy interrupt their meeting.

The meal was delicious and time seemed to fly by to Abby. She was disappointed when their plates were clear, only to have Connor get up and bring the champagne and some strawberry cheesecake. "I didn't actually make it," he admitted, "just picked it up from a cake shop on the way home."

"I don't mind at all," Abby smiled at him.

They finished eating and Connor promised her he'd do the dishes later. "Ignore them for now," he told her, then he reached for her hand to help her up and led her into the living room.

The first thing that Abby noticed was that everything was moved. The sofa, TV and reptile aquariums had all been pushed back against the wall. Abby looked at Connor, confused.

"Connor, what's going on?"

Connor grinned and held up one of Abby's romantic CD's, "Figured I'd move anything that looked like a hazard; I should warn you now, I'm quite the clumsy dancer, but I'll do me best."

He turned the music on and offered his hand to Abby who was smiling widely. She took it and Connor pulled her gently into his arms. "I like this, Abs," he told her. "I like holding you like this."

Abby nodded against him, "Me too. Connor, we're good togther aren't we?"

Connor nodded, "Of course, Abs. Me and you is a team."

"Yeah, a team," Abby sighed. She wanted to ask him if she could ever be more to him than a friend or a team mate, but after what had happened the night before she wasn't about to broach the subject again. The ball was in Connor's court, she decided. She just hoped he planned on doing something real about it and soon. They danced for the next hour without saying a word and when the CD ended, Abby finally pulled away.

"I-I should go to bed," she said regretfully.

Connor nodded, "Yeah, okay Abs. I'll clean up and see you in the morning."

Abby nodded and then hesitated, "Connor, we should do stuff like this more often."

"If you like," he smiled at her.

"Promise."

"I promise," Connor told her, kissing her cheek as she left the room. "Goodnight, Abby."

"'Night."


	18. Construction

Abby woke up in the middle of the night with a smile on her face. She'd been remembering her dance with Connor in her dreams. As she awoke though, she suddenly felt a bit lonely without his arms around her. This wasn't good; she was definitely becoming too spoiled. She tossed and turned for a bit before giving up and sneaking into Connor's room where he was sound asleep.

"Connor," she whispered, crouching beside his bed so that she was near his face. He didn't respond though, just kept on sleeping. Abby sighed. She didn't really want to wake him; she just wanted him to _be_ awake. She pushed him over a little bit and then lay beside. She didn't really plan on staying there, just wanted to be near him for a few minutes, but she suddenly felt Connor wrap his arms around her and pull her close to him. She looked up at his face and smiled; he was still asleep. She snuggled in as close to him as possible and settled in for the night, deciding that his arms felt too good to leave. Hopefully he wouldn't mind.

* * *

><p>Connor woke up in the morning to find Abby still in his arms. He smiled and kissed her forehead, "Abby," he whispered and she stirred slightly, but she was definitely asleep. She looked so peaceful that it was a shame to wake her, but he knew they had to get ready for work. "Abby, it's morning," he whispered.<p>

Abby groaned, trying to fight with her waking self and stay asleep for a bit longer.

"Abby," Connor said a bit louder as he saw her eyelids flutter a bit but they didn't open.

"No," Abby responded, "Let me sleep."

"Ab-by."

"I'm too comfortable here. Don't wanna wake up," she whispered, but she almost was awake now.

Connor decided that that could be fixed and he stood up and pulled the blankets from her.

Abby opened her eyes and glared at him, but Connor just grinned back in response, "It's mornin', Abs."

Abby grabbed the pillow and threw it at his head and he quickly ducked out of the room and headed for the bathroom to shower.

* * *

><p>Fifteen minutes later, Connor found Abby in the kitchen. He stood and stared at her with a grin on his face until she finally turned around.<p>

"What?" she asked him. "What are you smirking about?"

"You slept in my bed last night." Connor kept grinning.

Abby shrugged and turned back to the box of cereal she was pouring into two bowls so he couldn't see her blush, "I got lonely."

"I see," Connor replied when she finally looked back at him, his eyes teasing her.

Abby shoved one of the bowls towards him with a grin, "Shut up and eat."

* * *

><p>Work went by slowly for Connor all afternoon. He told Sarah about the date and they talked for quite awhile, but he didn't tell her about waking up to find Abby in his arms. That was between him and Abby, he decided.<p>

"Do you know what you're doing for tonight's step yet?" Sarah asked.

"Yep," he replied. "Thanks to your idea, I do."

"What?"

"Never you mind," Connor told her. "I'll tell you tomorrow."

"You can't do that!"

"Sure I can!"

Sarah glared at him and Connor pulled her ponytail gently, "Forget it, Sarah. You're not finding out."

Then he grinned at her and left the room to go find out what everyone else was up to.

As soon as he entered the Hub he noticed Danny and Becker staring at him and laughing. Becker approached him, "So, Connor, what's up, Man? Anything new and exciting happening with you these days?"

"Shut up, Becker. Sarah showed me the picture she took, so I know what this is about and I'm not telling you a thing."

"What about me?" Danny asked.

Connor just smiled, "You'll find out what you want to know soon enough, but right now anything that goes on is between Abby and me."

"Aha! So you do admit there is at least _something_ going on between the two of you."

Connor laughed. "Has there ever _not_ been?" he asked as he walked away.

* * *

><p>As soon as they were off work, Connor asked Abby for her car keys. "I gotta go shopping," he told her.<p>

Abby looked at him, "I can come."

"Nope, it's your turn to cook and I'm starving. I won't be long."

"What do we need?"

"Wood, hammer, nails, and a few other things."

"What?"

"Construction stuff. I'm gonna build something."

"Again, what?"

"You'll see. Have you already planned supper?"

"No, why? Did you have a request?"

"Please, Abs, can we have sloppy joes tonight?"

"Really? So nothing like last night's romantic meal?" Abby laughed.

"Oh, they can be romantic, a different kind of romance," Connor insisted.

"Yeah, right. I'll tell you what; I'll make sloppy joes if you tell me what you're building."

Connor shook his head, "Nope, no can do."

"Then forget it; I'll figure out my own meal plan."

"Fine," Connor grumbled as he headed for the car.

Abby rolled her eyes and went inside to find the ingredients for sloppy joes. She was still cooking the beef when she suddenly heard a loud banging coming from the living room and dashed into it.

"Connor!" she yelled, "Keep that hammer away from my… everything!"

Connor looked up from his project, which wasn't resembling anything so far, "Don't worry, Abby, I'll be careful. Wanna help?"

"What is it?"

"You'll see."

"I've gotta check on the hamburger meat and then I'll be back to supervise. No hammering until I'm back; I think I trust you more with a gun!"

Connor's face lit up, "Hamburger meat, are you…"

"Yes, Connor, I'm making sloppy joes."

Connor jumped to his feet, dropping the hammer with a loud bang to which they both winced, and lifted Abby into the air in an excited hug, "Thank-you, Abby."

"You're welcome. Put me down."

Connor did as he was told, but he couldn't wipe the grin from his face as he watched her leave the room.


	19. The Platform

Abby returned to the living room to find that Connor was nailing a bunch of boards together side by side.

"You can hammer a bit, if you like," Connor offered. Abby declined, but she did help him hold a few of the pieces still. He refused for the moment to tell her what it was.

Pretty soon he had built a large wooden…rectangle. That's all it seemed to be: just a flat rectangle that took up nearly the entire room. "Connor, would you please tell me what this is supposed to be?"

"Help me tip it up sideways," Connor ordered, "I need to build some sides on it so it'll be raised up into the air a few inches. It's a platform."

"Connor, we don't actually _need_ a giant platform filling up our living room," Abby protested as she helped him lift it up and then held it still while he nailed the side pieces on. When he was done he put it back down again.

"Ta-da!"

Abby stared at him like he had gone insane, "Connor, why…well, just, why?"

"I bought some stuff for the room and I didn't want to wreck the floor by nailing it down to the floor, so I built us a platform."

"What kind of stuff?"

"Plastic grass for starters."

Abby plopped down on the couch, which was still pushed against the wall from the previous night's dancing session, with a frustrated sigh. She watched as Connor pulled a before unnoticed roll of very fake looking grass out from a bag beside the music player and start to unroll it on the platform. He then began to staple it down with a staple gun. A few minutes later a curious Rex, Sid and Nancy appeared and began running around on the newly planted (unrolled) grass with delighted curiousity.

"See," Connor said pointedly, "At least _they_ like it."

Abby's eyebrows raised a bit, "I take that to mean I'm supposed to be enjoying this platform too?"

"I built it for you, yeah?"

"Uh, thanks. Didn't have Sarah's help with this gift I guess."

"Nope! But I'm not done yet, Abby. You'll see."

Abby rolled her eyes and headed back to the kitchen to finish making the sloppy joes. She wondered slightly if she was being a bit hard on him, but _seriously_, there was a giant platform covered in green plastic on her living room floor at the moment and no room for any thing else. She definitely wasn't overly thrilled with the prospect.

At least, she wasn't overly thrilled until she reappeared in the living room and found Connor surrounded by boxes. "Okay, Abs," he said, "Let's set up."

"Set up what? Connor what is all this stuff?"

Connor grinned proudly at her and pulled a smaller box out one of the larger ones, "The tent of course, gotta have a tent if we're going to camp in the living room."

Connor wasn't actually aware a person could move so fast, but Abby had crossed the platform to his side and thrown her arms around him before he could blink. He didn't hug her back at first, he was too surprised to react at all. Finally he put one arm around her waist and squeezed her back.

"Abs?"

She looked up at him and smiled, but… "Abby, you're crying!" Connor cried out, suddenly worried.

"Happy tears, yeah? I can't believe you thought to do something like this for me."

"Abby, I'd do anything for you."

Abby looked down at her feet, trying to hide her delight a bit, "I would for you too, Con."

Connor let go of her, "Good, because I_ do_ need you to do something for me. See, I'm not entirely sure how to set up a tent…"

Abby laughed and went to work showing him and letting him nail the pegs down into his new platform.

"You know," she laughed, "It's not like it's gonna blow away in here, we probably needed need to do all this."

"Oh, I wasn't so worried about the tent; I just wanted the grass so it felt more like camping. I even got us this." Connor reached into his bag and pulled out what looked like a flower pot with a glass wall around it at the top.

Abby stared at it. "What is that?"

"Indoor fire pit for these," Connor grinned as he dumped one of the other boxes out onto the plastic grass. He had sleeping bags and food consisting of marshmallows, graham crackers and chocolate bars. He'd even remembered the roasting sticks.

"Wow! Connor this is all amazing!"

"Now you know why I wanted sloppy joes for dinner! Gotta have some proper camping food we do."

"Yeah, I should go get those actually," Abby grinned. "You start the fire, yeah? Then we'll get right to fun part."

Connor nodded and as soon asAbby was out of the room he put pulled his list out of his pocket and put a check mark beside Day Six: Make One of Abby's Dreams Come True.


	20. Camping

When Abby returned with the plates of sloppy joes, she found that not only had Connor gotten the little fire lit, but he had set up a couple of folding camp chairs by it. They each collapsed into one and ate their meals, mostly in silence as they concentrated on keeping the sloppy joes in one piece. Connor made enough of a mess with his that Abby sent him to clean himself up twice before he was even finished eating the thing.

When they had finished eating and gotten rid of the dishes, Connor pulled out the s'more ingredients and they started roasting marshmallows over the fire. At one point, after a lot of s'mores and a ton of laughing and joking around, Abby touched the end of her stick while it was still too hot and burnt her fingers a little bit. Immediately Connor reached out for her hand and kissed the sore spot on the tips gently. Abby felt herself shiver with pleasure and she suddenly stood up and moved from her chair to sit sideways across his lap instead. Connor closed his eyes and sighed as he put down his roasting stick and wrapped his arms around her waist, burying his face into her shoulder.

"Abs," he whispered against her arm, but he didn't have anything to say, he just felt like saying her name and Abby seemed to know that as she didn't respond. Connor sighed then, suddenly frustrated. It would be so easy to tell her now, to let her know he was in love with her, but he was saving that final step for the last day. If he stuck to his list of wooing her slowly, he wasn't even allowed to kiss her properly until tomorrow.

"Abby," Connor whispered to her, knowing that if they didn't actually do something besides sit there cuddling, he would break his own list involuntarily, "Abby we should do some more camping stuff, yeah? Sing some songs, maybe, tell some ghost stories?"

"Yeah," Abby agreed, "we can do that." She didn't move from his lap at first, but she did begin to sing an old camp song that she knew, a bit softly and shyly at first but Connor joined in after a moment and it didn't take long before they were both singing loudly and skipping around their little indoor fire pit and laughing hysterically in between songs. Finally they collapsed on the ground from laughing too hard and lay there catching their breath. Abby let out a loud yawn and Connor propped himself up to look at her. "We should go get ready for bed."

Abby nodded and stood, brushing herself off, "You can go get changed first, I'd better put out this fire."

Connor nodded and went to find his pyjamas. When he returned, Abby left to get changed too. She came back to find Connor talking to her sleeping bag and watched, amused, for a moment.

"Come on! Open!" he ordered as he struggled with the zipper running along the side of it.

"Con, I don't think it can hear you."

Connor jumped a bit, startled, and then laughed and nodded, "Zipper's stuck, I can't open it."

Abby sat beside him and shrugged, "It's far enough I can get into it, just leave it."

"No, I need to open it all the way, then I can zip it to mine instead and create one big sleeping bag we can share. That is, if you're okay with that."

Abby grinned, "You're a genius, Connor Temple. Give me the bag, I'll figure it out."

Connor passed her the offending sleeping bag and Abby played with it a bit and managed to un-jam the piece of material that had gotten caught so she could undo it the rest of the way before handing it back to him. It was getting late, and outside the sun had gone down so that there was no more light coming in from the windows and Connor still seemed to be having a bit of trouble attaching the bags because of it. "Did you want the lights on, Connor?" Abby asked.

"Nope, we're camping, we don't use them."

"I could get a torch," Abby offered.

Connor nodded then and Abby grabbed him one from the kitchen. He turned it on just long enough to finish the sleeping bag and then he spread it out on the grass in front of the tent. "Let's lie here under the stars and tell ghost stories then. We'll move into the tent after that."

"I'm fine with that, but no offence, Con, I don't think there'll be much starlight in the living…" Abby's voice trailed off as she adjusted herself into a lying position on top of the sleeping bag Connor had just laid out. "Or perhaps I'm wrong," she corrected herself as she stared up at the solar powered star shaped stickers that Connor had somehow placed all over the ceiling without her noticing.

Connor just grinned at her and lay on his back next to her, "Do you like?"

"I love. Connor, it's beautiful!"

"So are you."

Abby blushed in the dark. She still couldn't believe that this was Connor speaking sometimes. They lay quietly on their backs in silence for a bit. They weren't touching at first, but after a long time, Abby did reach out and take his hand. Connor immediately entwined his fingers with hers and then suddenly he began telling his ghost story.

"It was a dark and stormy night..." He began with a low voice. Abby listened intently to his entire story, somewhat amused by his attempt. It wasn't the most scary story ever, but it wasn't bad and she decided that it'd perhaps be a lot scarier if they were outside and not holding hands and if she wasn't the type of girl who kept dinosaurs for pets.

When he finished, Abby grinned at him. "Not bad, not bad, but I bet I could do better."

Connor sat upright, "Is that so? Okay then, you get to be the challenger. Go!"

Abby sat up too, dropping Connor's hand and pulling her knees up to her chest as she wrapped her arms around them and began. In no time she had Connor cowering beside her like a little child. Unlike Connor's story that had eventually worked itself out to a happy ending, Abby stopped at the scariest place imaginable and told him it was the end.

"_What_? Wait! No, what happened next? How is that possibly the end, Abs?"

"Well," she concluded, "No one knows what happened after that as they were never heard from again."

Connor wrinkled his nose and glared at her, "Probably went through an anomaly then."

Abby laughed and shrugged, "Maybe."

Connor sighed, "Okay, Abs, you win. You are the better ghost story teller, but when we have kids and we do this kind of stuff with them, I'm telling the stories so that they aren't sleeping in our bed from nightmares for the next month."

It took Abby's shocked, "We're having kids?" for Connor to realise what he had just said.

He hesitated and thought about it, but then smiled in the dark, "One day, if you like."

Abby was sure Connor could hear her heart pounding as she lay back down on the sleeping bag. So Sarah had been right then; Connor was just taking his time. He really did still like her, liked her bad if he wanted to have a family with her. "Yeah," she whispered toward the starry ceiling, "yeah, I like."

Then she suddenly stood and pushed Connor off of the sleeping bag, "Come on, Con, we have to work tomorrow. We'd better get this thing in the tent and go to sleep."

Connor nodded and helped her out. A few minutes later they were both sleeping soundly in one another's arms.


	21. Day Seven

Connor lay quiet in the morning, not wanting to wake Abby who was still sleeping against his chest. With the one arm that was wrapped around her, he gently traced circles on her far shoulder with his thumb, stopping once in awhile to play with her ears. Abby had tiny ears and they were ridiculously cute, he decided.

Today was an important one; today he was actually supposed to tell Abby how he felt about her. Today he was allowed to kiss her and tell the world she was his girlfriend, if she agreed of course, but he knew she would. He wasn't nervous, he was excited to finally make some sort of proper commitment to her, but he promised himself that he wasn't going to just shout it out first thing in the morning either. Today was going to be about the two of them. He didn't actually have any concrete plans on what exactly was supposed to happen; he'd just let the day run its course, but he did know that his plans did_ not_ involve work and being separated from Abby for most the morning and afternoon. With his free hand, he awkwardly pulled out his mobile and sent Sarah a message.

_Tell Lester that Abby and me aren't coming in to work. We've better things 2 do today, like talk._

That's_ what u want me to tell him? Do u have a death wish?_

_Well, word it diff. then. Make something up._

_I do this and u give me details of what's going on over there later._

_I promise._

_K,_ Sarah agreed, I_'ll message u if we get an anomaly._

_Thanks, Sare. Bye._

Connor put the phone away and went back to staring at Abby until she finally woke. She tilted her head back a bit and looked up at him, smiling. "Good Morning," she whispered to him softly.

She was too close. Despite his earlier thoughts about saving it a bit longer, Connor knew his desire to kiss her then and there was going to win over. Well, fine, it wouldn't hurt, would it? Just a super quick one and then he'd go get dressed before it went even further. Just a preview, that's all he wanted. He leaned towards her and let his lips brush hers so gently and quickly that Abby didn't even realise what had just happened until he was gone and halfway upstairs to find his clothes.

She lay for a moment then with her hand on her heart trying to steady its beating. Connor had just kissed her, she was sure he had. She bit down on her bottom lip like she often did when she wasn't quite sure of herself and realised that, despite the briefness of the kiss, she could still taste him there. She sat up and exited the tent to go get dressed.

When Connor heard her climbing the stairs he called out, "Abby, we aren't going to work." Abby lifted her head to peer up the rest of the stairs as Connor hung his down to glance at her, "Sarah's covering for us."

"Why not? Connor, what's going on?"

Connor shrugged, "Didn't want to. Wanted to spend the day with you, yeah?"

"Doing what?"

"Doesn't matter. What's important is that we spend time together, innit? Any suggestions?"

Abby paused, "Let's go out to brunch then so that neither of us have to cook."

Connor nodded his approval of the idea and a few minutes later they climbed into Abby's car and headed down to a nearby café. As she was driving, Abby casually glanced at Connor from the side of her eye. "Connor?"

"Yep?"

"You kissed me."

"Did, didn't I? But I knew that, Silly."

"Connor?"

"Yep?"

"Never mind."

Abby had wanted to ask him what it meant, but she suddenly remembered the other day again when he'd asked her to wait. She bit down on her lip again and concentrated on the road while trying not to glance at Connor, despite the fact that she knew he was staring at her.

The rest of the drive was silent and Abby thought it was a bit awkward too. She wondered if she should have just kept her mouth shut, but when they got out of the car Connor immediately took her hand again and Abby felt a bit relieved as she clung to it. They were just headed into the restaurant when Abby heard a voice calling her name and she whirled around to see an old acquaintance of hers from high school. She winced a bit, knowing the girl would expect to be introduced to Connor and, truth be told, Abby couldn't remember the girl's name for the life of her. She hated moments like this.

"Uh, hey!" She said, putting on a fake smile, "Long time know see! How've you been?"

"Great!" the girl responded enthusiastically, "I got married last fall to Ryland Smith. Do you remember him?"

Abby shook her head, "Congrats! Sorry, I don't recall that name."

"Ah, well, he was a couple of grades older than us so that's probably why. But who's this? I see you've snagged yourself a pretty hot boyfriend too."

"He's not my boyfriend," Abby quickly corrected, as per habit, but then suddenly froze and wondered if she should have said that. She'd spent the last few nights in his arms, he'd kissed her that morning, and they were holding hands now. What if Connor thought she _was_ his girlfriend? Gosh she wished they'd talked about this sooner. "I mean, he's my Connor, you know. I mean, not mine, well kind of mine, I…" She trailed off thinking she should probably just shut up. She was blushing, but she risked glancing up at Connor to see if he looked upset. Instead, he had a rather amused look on his face, but it didn't stop Abby from feeling terrible about not knowing what to call him.

"Like she said, I'm Connor," he introduced himself, using his free hand to shake hands with the girl in front of him, "And you are?"

Abby could have kissed him then for asking so she didn't have to.

"Gerta," she introduced herself, "One of Abby's schoolmates. Well, anyway, I've gotta run, just stopped in to grab some coffee on my way to work," Gerta held up the coffee mug in her hand as though they needed proof of her statement. "Take care! Nice to see you again Abby, and nice to meet you Connor!" she waved and turned, heading back to her car.

"Connor, I'm sorry," Abby whispered once they were alone again.

Connor stared at her. He'd thought it was cute when she'd gotten all flustered, but he could see she was really upset about the encounter. Despite what she'd told him before during their questionnaire game on Day Four, it had taken until this moment for him to realise that his tough Abby was very, very, insecure when it came to relationships, no doubt her abusive childhood was partly to blame.

"It's okay, Abs," Connor said, dropping her hand to put his arm around her and hug her closely, "It's not something we've actually discussed yet, is it?"

Abby shook her head, "No, not since… well, not since you started acting like I was your girlfriend."

"We'll talk about it after we eat, okay, Abs?"

Abby's face lit up, "Really, we can talk about that?"

Connor nodded, "Yeah, we can now. After brunch, we'll go somewhere a bit more private. I wanted to talk to you about it today anyway, that's why I told Lester we aren't coming."

Abby felt relieved. Perhaps they could finally decide for once and for all whether they were a couple or just close friends, though she was definitely leaning towards the former.

But they were only in the middle of their brunch when Connor's mobile went off and a text from Sarah told them that there was an anomaly and creature incursion at a local movie theatre. Connor groaned and quickly tossed some coin onto the table to pay their bill and grabbed Abby's hand as they ran towards the car.


	22. The Ultimate Dinosaur

**This is the final chapter! I hope you enjoyed it!**

The local cinema was quite close to the restaurant and Abby and Connor reached the theatre quickly and before anyone else from the ARC team arrived. People were screaming and running around and Abby and Connor quickly grabbed a couple guns from the glove compartment and slipped into the crowd and tried to evacuate them calmly while looking for a manager or someone who could tell them what had come through.

They managed to make out that in the theatre showing Godzilla, Godzilla himself had stepped through the screen and attacked the crowd.

"I don't like the sound of that," Connor whispered to Abby. She nodded her agreement as a loud roar and some more screaming came from inside and they darted in together. Most of the people had left the building, but they found the very shaken manager just inside the door. Connor raced towards the theatre that'd been playing Godzilla while Abby pulled the man aside to question him.

"They're dead!" he was shouting at Abby, "They're all dead!"

"Who?" Abby questioned, gently laying her hand on the man's shoulder, "What happened?"

The man began to sob as he answered her question, "Godzilla himself, he just stepped out of the screen and began to attack people. One of my usher's was killed, ripped to shreds in seconds, he was only sixteen, just about to start his final year of school, and a man in the front row was killed along with his daughter, girl looked about seven they didn't have a chance, but I saw his wife escape with the two younger kids."

"Oh no," Abby sighed sympathetically, her voice breaking, "how big was the creature that killed them?"

"Huge! It was Godzilla I tell you!"

A moment later Connor came flying back out the room, clearly shaken himself. He grabbed Abby's arm and pulled her to the side, "Female T-Rex, amazing, beautiful, powerful and deadly. She's the one that attacked, but there's more, two babies with her, she'll be protective, scared, and more aggressive than ever. I've shut the doors to the theatre but it won't hold her back if she tries to escape. I'm hoping she'll stay put with the babies until the rest of the team arrives. These guns aren't going to do a thing except anger it."

Abby took the information in with a nod and whispered, "Did you find the anomaly?"

"Yeah, it's behind the screen, but Abby, you know we won't be able to lead the trio back through, okay? She sees us, she'll attack, we're going to have to kill them."

Abby nodded, "Yeah, I know, it's okay."

"Good, I'll be back. Gotta run out to the car for a moment and grab something, get the manager out of here and make sure no one speaks to the press, yeah?"

Abby nodded and led the man outside by the elbow. She stood by the doors, keeping an eye on things, until she saw what it was exactly that Connor was getting out of the car. She raced over and stood behind him, "No," she said firmly, "No, no, no. Connor have you lost your mind, you are not going back in there alone."

"I have to, Abs," Connor told her gently, as he pulled the spare anomaly locking device out of the trunk, "It's going to be hard enough taking down the mother and her babies, if any more come through…"

"Connor, you can't. She's killed three people already. The team will be here any minute, just wait, okay?"

Connor shook his head and then put the locking device down on the top of the car, "Listen, Abs, this wasn't exactly how I planned on doing this, but I didn't actually have a plan so it'll have to do."

Suddenly he leaned forward and kissed her passionately on the mouth. He heard Abby gasp a bit but she immediately wrapped her arms around behind his neck and kissed him back. Connor sighed and broke away, far too soon he thought, but there was a family of T-Rex to deal with that couldn't wait. He picked up the device again and met her eyes with his, "Abby, I love you."

"I know," she whispered, "I love you too."

"Good, Now, I'll be okay, I promise. If the team shows up, send them my way with plenty of firepower, okay?"

Abby shook her head, not even realising that she was crying, "No, no, I'm coming with you."

"It's too dangerous, Abby, I need you to stay here, okay? I won't be able to concentrate if you're there too."

"Connor, you have to come back. I can't be your girlfriend if you don't."

"I'll come back, I promise."

Abby nodded then and Connor took the device and ran off. Abby gave him about forty-five seconds before following. She'd sneak and play back up only if she had to, but despite her agreement, she wasn't actually about to let Connor do this on his own. She quietly slipped through the doors and watched as Connor jumped up onto the stage area and start setting up the device. The T-Rex was on the other side of the room watching the babies eat something that Abby didn't want to know what it was, when it noticed Connor's movement. It charged toward him.

"Connor!" Abby screamed, rushing down the aisle. Connor looked up, horrified, and Abby quickly aimed her small gun and shot. The bullet barely scratched the T-Rex's hide and it glanced at her but continued its advance on Connor, though slightly slower as it eyed the situation.

Abby knew she had to act fast and she glanced to the side and Connor knew instantly what she was planning, "Abby, no!" he cried out.

But Abby ignored him as she ran towards the babies, aiming the gun at them. She shot and the baby let out a scream-like sound. Instantly the mother turned tail on Connor and headed for Abby. Connor, knowing he could do nothing else, quickly locked the anomaly, and tried shooting the T-Rex from behind, but it had no effect. Abby darted under the row of seats where she hoped it wouldn't reach her.

Connor ran over in horror, not being able to see where she was, as the T-Rex easily overturned the chairs. Just before it caught her though, a loud bang interrupted it and it glanced up for a second before falling over.

Connor breathed a sigh of relief, "Good timing," he said casually to the others as Danny, Becker and Sarah came running up. A large gun in the hands let him know that it was Becker who had actually shot the T-Rex, who was not quite dead yet.

Becker acknowledged him with a nod before moving over and finishing the dinosaur off with another round of gun fire. Sarah hid her face into Danny's side and shuddered, "I hate that part," she whispered as Becker turned the gun on to the babies.

Connor helped Abby out from under the chair and Danny gave Sarah a quick squeeze before letting go of her to help Becker with the bodies. Connor turned to Sarah and grinned, "So," he said, "Me and Abby are a couple now."

Sarah squealed and threw her arms around them both in delight, "See, I told you that you liked each other!"

Abby grinned at their friend, "I should thank-you, Sarah, I have a feeling you had a lot to do with this all."

Sarah shrugged, "Are you kidding? It was fun!" She gave them one more quick hug and then excused herself to go and try and calm down the crowd that was still outside.

"Wait," Connor told her, "I'll go with you, we'll have to confiscate all their mobiles and keep the media away. Boy do I miss Jenny right now!"

Sarah nodded and waited for him while Abby turned and moved to help the guys remove the heavy adult T-Rex through the side exit doors where nobody would see it.

* * *

><p>A few hours later Connor sat on the couch back at home. Abby curled up into as she watched Connor play his video games. Connor asked if she wanted to play too, but she shook her head and said she wasn't in the mood. Connor moved to switch the game off so that he could focus on her instead, but she gestured for him to keep playing. "It's alright," she said, "I just want to cuddle, that's all. You don't have to stop."<p>

Connor finished his quest quickly and then shut it off anyway, wrapping his arms around Abby and she smiled up at him.

"Abby, you scared the hell out of me today."

"And you did me too."

Connor sighed, "I guess it's even then," he said.

Abby nodded and reached up, kissing him. Then she closed her eyes and pressed her forehead to his, "I still can't believe I'm so lucky that you let me do that."

Connor nodded, "I feel the same way, Abby. I didn't really think you'd ever love me."

Abby rested her head on his shoulder and nodded, "I'm sorry it took me so long. Like I said, relationships scare me."

"Are you scared of us?"

"No, I trust you, I guess. It's different with us now, Connor. We've been best friends for so long and you've been ever so loyal to me. I'm not scared with you, it just took me a long time to get there, that's all."

"It's okay, Abs. You were worth the wait."

Abby smiled and snuggled even closer to his side. They sat in comfortable silence for a long time until Connor felt Abby relax further and found that she had fallen asleep. He lifted her carefully and carried her up to her bed to tuck her in where she could have a more comfortable nap while he prepared dinner. Then he pulled the list out of his pocket and crossed of Day Seven: Tell Abby You Love Her". He started to put the list back and then pulled it out again and grabbed a pen to write on the bottom of it: "Step Number 8: Shuffle the Order and Repeat Endlessly."


End file.
